Pioneering Humans Settled in Northern Europe Alongside Neanderthals, Surprising Scientists
In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have found evidence that early humans settled in northern Europe more than 45,000 years ago, living alongside Neanderthals. This revelation challenges previous beliefs about the history of human migration and the extinction of Neanderthals.
The discovery was made by an international team of researchers who uncovered human bones and tools in a German cave. These findings represent the oldest traces of Homo sapiens ever discovered so far north. The implications of this discovery are significant as it could rewrite our understanding of how Homo sapiens populated Europe and ultimately replaced the Neanderthals.
French paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin, who led the research, explained that there was a “replacement phenomenon” between the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic periods when both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals co-existed in Europe. Archaeological evidence, such as stone tools, from this period has been found, but identifying which species created them has been challenging due to a lack of bones.
One particular culture called the “Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician” (LRJ) culture has puzzled scientists. Stone tools from this culture have been discovered at various sites north of the Alps, including in England and Poland. The recent studies published in the journal Nature focused on a cave near the town of Ranis in central Germany, where the LRJ culture was also present.
The cave had been partially excavated in the 1930s but remained largely unexplored due to a massive rock blocking further access. However, during recent digs between 2016 and 2022, the team managed to remove the rock and make new discoveries. They found leaf-shaped stone blades similar to those found at other LRJ sites and thousands of bone fragments.
To determine which bones were from animals and which were from humans, the team used a new technique called paleoproteomics. This method involves extracting proteins from fossils. Through radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis, they confirmed that the cave contained the skeletal remains of 13 humans. This finding revealed that the stone tools in the cave, previously attributed to Neanderthals, were actually crafted by humans as early as 47,500 years ago.
Hublin described this discovery as a “huge surprise” since no human fossils from the LRJ culture had been known before. The fossils date back to a time when Homo sapiens were leaving Africa for Europe and Asia. The prevailing belief was that a large wave of Homo sapiens swept across Europe, absorbing the Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago. However, this new evidence suggests that humans populated the continent through repeated smaller excursions and earlier than previously assumed.
This means that there was more time for modern humans to coexist with Neanderthals. The last Neanderthals died out in Europe’s southwest 40,000 years ago. The humans who settled in northern Europe faced extreme cold resembling modern-day Siberia or northern Scandinavia. They lived in small, mobile groups and briefly stayed in the cave where they hunted reindeer, woolly rhinoceros, horses, and other animals for food.
Hublin expressed curiosity about how these early humans from Africa managed to survive in such extreme temperatures. Nevertheless, their ability to adapt to a hostile environment demonstrated their technical capacity and adaptability. It was previously believed that humans could not withstand such cold until thousands of years later.
The fate of the Neanderthals remains a mystery. Some theories suggest that humans played a role in their extinction through violence, disease transmission, or interbreeding. However, further research is needed to unravel the full story.
This groundbreaking discovery sheds new light on human migration and the coexistence of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in Europe. It challenges previous assumptions and underscores the resilience and adaptability of early humans. As scientists continue to uncover more evidence, our understanding of our ancient ancestors and their interactions with other hominin species will undoubtedly evolve.