- Pallap Ghosh
- Science Journalist
New fossils now available call into question the notion that modern humans destroyed Neanderthals once they arrived from Africa.
A child’s tooth and stone tools found in a cave in southern France suggest that Homo sapiens (modern humans) lived in Western Europe about 54,000 years ago.
This is several thousand years earlier than previously thought. This shows that the two species may have been together for a long time.
The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
They were discovered in a cave called Grote Mandrin in the Rhne Valley by a team led by Prof. Ludovic Slimek of the University of Toulouse. Slimk was surprised to learn that there was evidence of pre-modern human immigration.
“We can now prove that the Homo sapiens arrived 12,000 years earlier than we expected. After that this population was displaced by other Neanderthals. And it makes all of our history books edit.”
Ethnic humans arrived in Europe 4 million years ago by Neanderthals. Current theory suggests that humans became extinct by Neanderthals shortly after Homo sapiens arrived in Europe from Africa, about 40,000 years ago.
But the new discovery suggests that our human race may have arrived earlier and that the two species may have been together in Europe for more than 10,000 years before humans became extinct by Neanderthals.
According to Chris Stringer, a professor at the Museum of Natural History in London, this calls into question the current view that our human race is rapidly being wiped out by Neanderthals.
Image source, ROB HOPE FILMS
“It was not acquired overnight by modern humans,” he told BBC News. He added, “Sometimes Neanderthals had advantages. Sometimes modern humans had advantages. So it was very nicely balanced.”
Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the fossil record. The more they dug down, the more they could see behind the wheel of time. The lowest layers show the remains of humans by Neanderthals who occupied the area for about 20,000 years.
But, to their utter amazement, the team found the tooth of a child of the modern human race in a layer about 54,000 years ago. They also found some stone tools made in connection with the Neanderthals.
Evidence suggests that this early human group lived in the area for a short period of about 2,000 years. The place was not occupied after that. Until the return of modern humans 44,000 years ago, Neanderthals again occupied that space for several thousand years.
“We have appeared and disappeared like this,” says Pera Stringer. “Modern humans appeared for a short time. Then there was a gap. The prevailing climate there may have destroyed them. Then humans came back by Neanderthals.”
Neanderthals appeared 4 million years ago. Neanderthals and modern humans lived together 54 thousand years ago. The Neanderthals became extinct 40,000 years ago. Modern humans survived.
Another important discovery was that the stone tools found in the same layer as the baby tooth were related to modern humans. Tools made in the same way were found in some other places, such as the Rhne Valley and Lebanon. But so far scientists have not been sure which human race created them.
Some researchers speculate that some small tools may be arrowheads. The earliest group of modern humans used advanced weapons such as bows and arrows. This may be one of the reasons why this group defeated humans by Neanderthals 54,000 years ago. But, if so, it is a temporary advantage. Because, humans came back because of Nyanda.
So, if our modern human race did not destroy them immediately, what was the advantage that ultimately led to the success of our race?
Scientists have put forward a number of theories, such as our ability to create art and language, and what the best brains can do. But Professor Stringer believes this happened because we were the best co-operating race.
Image source, LUDOVIC SLIMAK
“We integrated better, our community groups were larger. We stored knowledge better, and we grew on the basis of that knowledge,” he says.
This notion that modern humans have long interacted with humans by Neanderthals suggests that modern humans have DNA from small amounts of Neanderthals in their bodies. Consistent with the 2010 finding that there is hybrid. It also shows how these two species reproduced together, says Professor Stringer.
“It is not known whether this was a peaceful exchange between the two sides. Perhaps a woman from another group was brought in. Otherwise the children may have been adopted by an abandoned or orphaned Neanderthal,” he says.
“They could all have happened, too. So we do not yet know the whole story. But with more data and more DNA, more discoveries, we’re getting closer to the truth about what really happened at the end of the Neanderthal era.”
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