23 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

A new study provides evidence that modern humans, coexisted in the same region with Neanderthals for thousands of years

A genetic analysis of bone fragments excavated from an archaeological site in Ranis, Germany provides conclusive evidence that modern humans – Homo sapiens – had reached northern Europe around 45,000 years ago.

This dates modern humans -Homo sapiens- arrival thousands of years earlier than previously thought and shows that they co-existed with Neanderthals for several millennia before the latter went extinct. In addition, during this period, Neanderthals and humans interbred, as evidenced by Neanderthal DNA found in the modern human genome.

Scientists discovered leaf-shaped spear points, animal remains, and thirteen bone fragments identified as early modern humans at the base of a medieval castle, 24 feet deep into the layered sediment of the Ilsenhöhle cave. These findings provide evidence that Homo sapiens existed in northern Europe 45,000 years ago.

Thirteen bone fragments’ DNA revealed they belonged to Homo sapiens, and their mitochondrial sequences matched those of other European populations. Remarkably, several fragments shared the same maternal lineages, indicating they came from the same individual or close female relatives.

This genetic evidence supports previous discoveries that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis interbred occasionally as the two species interacted. It also lends weight to the idea that the migration of modern humans into Europe and Asia around 50,000 years ago contributed to the demise of Neanderthals, which had occupied the area for more than 500,000 years, to extinction.

Excavating the LRJ layers to a depth of 8 m at Ranis was a logistical challenge and required elaborate scaffolding to support the trench. Credit: Marcel Weiss

The findings, are detailed in three papers published in the journals Nature and Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The stone blades at Ranis, referred to as leaf points, are similar to stone tools found at several sites in Moravia, Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom. These tools that are thought to have been produced by the same culture, referred to as the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician (LRJ) culture or technocomplex.

Because of previous dating, the Ranis site was known to be 40,000 years old or older, but without recognizable bones to indicate who made the tools, it was unclear whether they were the product of Neanderthals or Homo sapiens.

The Ranis cave provides evidence of the earliest dispersal of Homo sapiens into northern latitudes of Europe. It turns out that stone artifacts that were thought to be produced by Neanderthals were, in fact, part of the early Homo sapiens toolkit,” says Jean-Jacques Hublin, a study co-author and paleoanthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in a statement.

Stone tools from the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician technocomplex at Ranis. Image: © Josephine Schubert, Museum Burg Ranis
Stone tools from the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician technocomplex at Ranis. Image: © Josephine Schubert, Museum Burg Ranis

Inspection of nearby animal teeth and bones revealed that these early humans existed amid a harsh, tundra landscape populated by reindeer, cave bears, horses, and woolly rhinoceros in conditions comparable to modern Siberia or northern Scandinavia.

Through the use of contemporary methods for the re-excavation of Ranis and the extraction of mitochondrial DNA from bones, the team was able to reconstruct the history of early settlements throughout northern Europe.

Their multidisciplinary analysis creates a new chronology, demonstrating that, contrary to popular belief, Homo sapiens did not arrive after the extinction of Neanderthals, but rather coexisted with them for millennia and intermittently occupied the Ranis site as early as 47,500 years ago.

University of California, Berkeley

Cover Photo: © Tim Schüler TLDA

Related Articles

An unexpected shipwreck was unearthed at the Tallinn construction site

18 April 2022

18 April 2022

During the construction of the office building on Lootsi Street in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital on the Baltic Sea, a shipwreck...

This summer, a 2,000-year-old “thermopolium” fast-food restaurant in Pompeii will reopen to the public

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

Archaeologists excavated a 2000-year-old fast food and drink counter “termopolium” on the streets of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii...

The Old Fisherman Founded the Turkish Sea Creatures Museum

26 March 2021

26 March 2021

The sea gives another life to man, sometimes love, sometimes a disappointment, often a longing. The sea is reminiscent of...

Collectors In The Prehistoric World Recycled Old Stone Tools To Preserve The Memory Of Their Ancestors

16 March 2022

16 March 2022

A first-of-its-kind study at Tel Aviv University asks what drove prehistoric humans to collect and recycle flint tools that had...

An Egyptian Tomb Decorated with Magic Snake Spells Discovered

9 November 2023

9 November 2023

During excavations at Abusir, between Giza and Saqqara, archaeologists at the Czech Institute of Egyptology (CIE) found an ancient tomb...

Archaeologists Find Mysterious 2,800-year-old Channels in Jerusalem

30 August 2023

30 August 2023

Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem have uncovered a network of mysterious channels dating back to the days of King Joash and...

Silver coins found near the ruins of the medieval monastery in Holy island

10 November 2021

10 November 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a silver coin on Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, in the northeast of England. Dig Ventures is...

Rare 6th-Century BCE Wash Basin ‘Louterion’ Discovered in Malta

11 September 2024

11 September 2024

Archaeological investigations, initiated by a proposal to build a 130-meter-long boulder revetment along the shore of Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk to...

Volunteer archaeologists discovered a 1900-year-old silver military decoration in Vindolanda

17 June 2023

17 June 2023

Volunteer archaeologists have discovered a 1900-year-old military decoration (Phalera) that was awarded to distinguished soldiers and troops in the Roman...

Venice of the Pacific: The mysterious Micronesian ruins of Nan Madol

12 July 2022

12 July 2022

Sometimes art and architecture challenge our perceptions of what was formerly thought to be feasible and what our forefathers were...

Bronze Age and Roman-era settlements unearthed in Newquay

10 April 2023

10 April 2023

Archaeologists from the Cornwall Archaeological have uncovered ancient dwellings from the Bronze Age and a Roman period settlement in Newquay,...

Archaeologists Uncover Elegant Rare Blue Frescoes of an Ancient Sanctuary in Pompeii

10 June 2024

10 June 2024

Archaeologists digging away at ash covering the ancient city of Pompeii have uncovered a room with walls frescoed in an...

350,000-Year-Old Human Settlement have been Discovered on the Arabian Peninsula

17 May 2021

17 May 2021

One of the world’s oldest Acheulean sites was found in the northern region of Hail in Saudi Arabia. Al Nasim...

Two new fragments of the Fasti Ostienses, a kind of chronicle engraved on marble slabs, have been found in the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park

19 August 2023

19 August 2023

Two new fragments of the Fasti Ostienses have been discovered in the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park, following investigations carried out...

A hungry Badger uncovers the largest collection of such coins ever discovered in northern Spain

11 January 2022

11 January 2022

Archaeologists have uncovered a rich trove of 209 Roman-era coins in northwestern Spain, due to the apparent efforts of a...