22 February 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A fossilized Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in France may have belonged to a previously undescribed lineage that split from other Neanderthals

The fossilized Neanderthal skeleton, discovered in a cave system in the Rhône Valley of France, represents a previously unidentified lineage that split from other Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago. The researchers named the mysterious Neanderthal “Thorin” after a character from the universe of J. R. R. Tolkien.

Thorin’s fossilized remains were first discovered in 2015 in Grotte Mandrin—a well-studied cave system that also housed early Homo sapiens—and he is still being slowly excavated. This latest work shows that the cavern also housed Neanderthals at a different time, around 40,000 to 45,000 years ago, towards the end of their existence as a species.

Based on Thorin’s location within the cave’s sediment, the team’s archeologists suspected that he lived around 40–45,000 years ago, making him a “late Neanderthal.” To determine his age and relationships with other Neanderthals, the team extracted DNA from his teeth and jaw and compared his full genome sequence to previously sequenced Neanderthal genomes.

Surprisingly, the initial genomic analysis suggested that Thorin was much older than the archeological age estimate because his genome was very distinct from other late Neanderthals and much more closely resembled the genomes of Neanderthals who lived more than 100,000 years ago.

By comparing his genome with those of other Neanderthals, researchers estimated Thorin lived around 105,000 years ago. However, archaeological evidence and analysis of the isotopes in his bones unequivocally showed that Thorin lived no more than 50,000 years ago.

Researchers used part of a root of one of Thorin's molars to determine that he was male and to generate a whole-genome sequence, revealing that he was part of an isolated, previously unknown lineage of Neanderthals. Image credit: Ludovik Slimak
Researchers used part of a root of one of Thorin’s molars to determine that he was male and to generate a whole-genome sequence, revealing that he was part of an isolated, previously unknown lineage of Neanderthals. Image credit: Ludovik Slimak

To solve this riddle, the researchers analyzed isotopes from Thorin’s bones and teeth to gain insight into what type of climate he lived in—late Neanderthals lived during the Ice Age, while early Neanderthals enjoyed a much warmer climate. The isotopic analysis showed that Thorin lived in a very cold climate, making him a late Neanderthal.

“For a very long time we [geneticists] were convinced that Thorin really was an early Neanderthal, just because his genetic lineage was so distantly related to contemporary Neanderthals in the same region,” says team member Tharsika Vimala of the University of Copenhagen. “On the other side, the archaeologists were convinced that he was a late Neanderthal.”

“We worked for seven years to find out who was wrong—archeologists or genomicists,” says co-first author and discoverer of Thorin, Ludovic Slimak, CNRS researcher of Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier.

Compared to previously sequenced Neanderthal genomes, Thorin’s genome most closely resembled an individual excavated in Gibraltar, and Slimak speculates that Thorin’s population migrated to France from Gibraltar.

“This means there was an unknown Mediterranean population of Neanderthals whose population spanned from the most western tip of Europe all the way to the Rhône Valley in France,” says Slimak.

The jawbone of a Neanderthal known as Thorin, who is thought to have been part of an isolated population. Image credit: Xavier Muth
The jawbone of a Neanderthal known as Thorin, who is thought to have been part of an isolated population. Image credit: Xavier Muth

Knowing that Neanderthal communities were small and insular could be key to understanding their extinction because isolation is generally considered to be a disadvantage for population fitness.

“It’s always a good thing for a population to be in contact with other populations,” says Vimala. “When you are isolated for a long time, you limit the genetic variation that you have, which means you have less ability to adapt to changing climates and pathogens, and it also limits you socially because you’re not sharing knowledge or evolving as a population.”

However, to really understand how Neanderthal populations were structured and why they went extinct, the researchers say that more Neanderthal genomes need to be sequenced.

Cell Genomics

Cover Image: CC-0. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/neanderthals-stone-age-8783874/

Related Articles

2000-year-old dagger reveals the site of a long-forgotten battle between the Roman Empire and tribal warriors

16 December 2023

16 December 2023

In Switzerland, a volunteer archaeologist and dental student Lucas Schmid discovered in 2019 a 2000-year-old silver and brass dagger. It...

Climate Change Negatively Impacts 45 000-year-old Cave Paintings in Indonesia

13 May 2021

13 May 2021

Cave paintings from 20,000 to 50,000 years ago in Indonesia are in danger of extinction due to climate change. Indonesia...

Archaeologists have found a fort that the Romans built to protect their silver mines, complete with wooden spikes

23 February 2023

23 February 2023

Archaeologists have discovered wooden defenses surrounding an ancient Roman military base for the first time in Bad Ems, western Germany....

Chinese Paleontologists discovered a 170-million-year-old flower

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Chinese paleontologists discovered fossils of an ancient plant dating back approximately 170 million years. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing...

Gold jewelry from the time of Nefertiti found in Bronze Age tombs in Cyprus

1 December 2021

1 December 2021

Archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg have concluded an excavation of two tombs in the Bronze Age city of Hala...

A pendant with a figure of St. Nicholas found in the Ancient Church Hidden in Turkish Lake

7 October 2022

7 October 2022

Underwater archaeological excavations and research, which were started 8 years ago in the basilica located 20 meters off the lake...

The 1800-year iron mask unearthed in Turkey is proof of the first military base of the Roman period in the Western Black Sea Region

23 November 2021

23 November 2021

An iron face mask used by a skilled member of the Roman cavalry 1,800 years ago has been discovered in...

Parts of the City of the old city of Ghadames called the pearl of the desert collapsed due to rainfall

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Some parts of the Old City of Ghadames, located in an oasis about 600km southwest of Tripoli near Libya’s border...

The Entire Genome Of 35,000-Year-Old Skull From Romania Sequenced “Peştera Muierii 1”

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

Researchers have successfully sequenced the whole genome from the skull of Peştera Muierii 1, women who lived in today’s Romania...

Mothers in the prehistoric were far more skilled at parenting their children than we give them credit for

24 November 2021

24 November 2021

The death rate of newborns in ancient cultures is not a reflection of inadequate healthcare, sickness, or other issues, according...

Oldest Known Human Viruses Discovered In 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Remains

15 May 2024

15 May 2024

Researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo have managed to uncover the oldest known human viruses in a set...

China’s construction of the first archaeological museum which will house the famous Terracotta Warriors has been completed

19 April 2022

19 April 2022

Construction of the first archaeological museum in China’s northwestern province of Shaanxi, which will house the famous Terracotta Warriors, was...

The latest excavations in the ancient city of Dülük will shed light on the history of different religions

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

It is thought that the ancient city of Dülük, one of the 25 oldest settlements in the world, will shed...

Neolithic village discovered in northeastern France after 150 years of research

29 August 2023

29 August 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered traces of a permanent settlement in the vast Neolithic site of the Marais de Saint-Gond in northeastern...

In the new images, Scotland’s biggest Pictish fort is “reconstructed.’

2 November 2021

2 November 2021

Stunning new reconstructions have revealed how Scotland’s largest known Pictish fort may have looked over one thousand years ago. Three-dimensional...