18 September 2025 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

The oldest grave in northern Germany 10,500 years old

14 October 2022

14 October 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known human remains in northern Germany in a 10,500-year-old cremation grave in Lüchow, Schleswig-Holstein. The...

Scientists Reconstruct Face Of 16th Century Italian ‘Vampire’ Buried With Brick In Mouth

23 March 2024

23 March 2024

A 16th-century ‘vampire‘ who was buried with a stone brick jammed in her mouth over fears she would feed on...

Experts to uncover the secret of the monumental and three-dimensional Urartian statue found on Garibin Tepe

2 November 2024

2 November 2024

In an area where rescue excavations were conducted last year, archaeologists discovered a basalt stone statue from the Urartian period...

Ancient stone grenades discovered at Badaling Great Wall in Beijing

16 October 2023

16 October 2023

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 59 ancient stone grenades from the ruins of a building in the western section of the...

With the withdrawal of Lake Van, the Urartian road to Çarpanak Island emerged

18 May 2022

18 May 2022

In Lake Van in eastern Turkey, the water level fell due to global warming, and a one-kilometer Urartian road connecting...

Roman ‘ritual center’ discovered in England

12 January 2023

12 January 2023

Archaeologists from have discovered a Roman ritual centre during excavations near Northampton, England. The find was made by the Museum...

2,700-Year-Old Rare Bronze Knives from the Early Saka Period Unearthed in Kazakhstan

17 July 2025

17 July 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, researchers and students from Margulan University have unearthed two rare bronze knives dating back over...

First European farmers’ heights did not meet expectations

9 April 2022

9 April 2022

A combined study of genetics and skeletal remains shows that the switch from primarily hunting, gathering and foraging to farming...

INAH archaeologists discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in Mexico

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in...

A 130,000-year-old Stingray Sand Sculpture on South Africa’s Coast May Be the World’s Oldest Animal Art

4 April 2024

4 April 2024

Analyzing this object, which at first glance looks like a symmetrical rock, the research team speculated that it could be...

In Moravia, archaeologists discover divine thrones, thousands of artifacts and a new settlement

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

During a four-year dig in the Moravian city (Czech Republic) of Perov, rare gems, mysterious burial places, and divine thrones...

In France, a burial with six ankle bracelets was uncovered

22 December 2022

22 December 2022

An individual bedecked in copper jewelry was discovered during the excavation of a protohistoric necropolis in Aubagne, southeastern France. The...

1.8-million-year-old ‘human tooth’ discovered in Georgia

9 September 2022

9 September 2022

An ancient human tooth discovered by archaeologists in Georgia dates back 1.8 million years, firmly establishing the area as the...

An inscription written in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be still a legally significant promissory note

31 May 2023

31 May 2023

An inscription in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be legally valid...