Modern humans ‘co-existed with Neanderthals in Europe for 8,000 years’

Archaeologists working in a Bulgarian cave have unearthed the earliest direct evidence of modern humans ever found in Europe. 

The landmark finding reveals that human migration reached Europe around 45,000 years ago, proving the first ever Europeans overlapped with Neanderthals for much longer than previously thought. 

‘Now we see there is a period of about 8,000 years between the first modern humans putting their feet in eastern Europe and the extinction of the last Neanderthal in the far west of the continent,’ Jean-Jacques Hublin, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology told The Times.

‘Eight thousand years is a long time. Long enough for a lot of interactions between these populations in terms of biology, but also in terms of cultural diffusion from one group to another.’

Analysis of fossilised human remains reveals the cave-dwellers regularly hunted bison and deer while also turning animal teeth into fashion accessories – something that Neanderthals are also known to have done. 

Several cave bear teeth which had been turned into personal ornaments were discovered at the site.  

Scroll down for video  

Researchers were working at a cave known as Bacho Kiro, which was first discovered and excavated in the 1970s and is located three miles (5 km) from the town of Dryanovo.

Fresh analysis by two teams of researchers found a smattering of bones and teeth in the cave, but due to millennia underground it was impossible to tell which species most of the remains belonged to.  

One tooth was clearly human, but the rest underwent detailed lab analysis to scan the material’s proteins and reveal which animal it came from. 

These results, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, reveal some of the bones belonged to bison, deer and other animals while others were definitely human. 

A separate study published in Nature found evidence of seven ancient hominins among the fossilised remains.  DNA was successfully extracted from six of them. 

Dr Mateja Hajdinjak, a postdoctoral Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute in London and research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said this was only possible due to the ‘exceptionally good’ preservation of the DNA.  

The two studies, which involved significant cooperation and overlap, proved humans did exist in Europe around 45,000 years ago. 

Animal bones found at the site had prominent butchery marks on them likely left behind as humans used tools to cut up the carcasses for meat and materials.    

High-quality flint also found at the site, which originated more than 100 miles away, may have been used as a butchering knife or as a weapon for hunting. 

The study revealed that many of the animal bones had been worked into tools, including awls and lissoirs, which were used to punch holes in hides and soften animal skins, respectively.  

The trove of cave bear teeth used as pendants came as a shock to the scientists as similar pendants have previously been found that were made by Neanderthals.  

Co-author Professor Shara Bailey, an anthropologist at New York University, says there were clear similarities between the jewellery made at the Bulgarian site by Homo sapiens and more recent versions carved by Neanderthals. 

She says: ‘There are some similarities in manufacturing techniques used by Homo sapiens at Bacho Kiro and Neanderthals elsewhere, which makes clear there was cultural transmission going on between the two groups.’   

Professor Hublin says this level of cultural interaction and overlap while occupying the same territory means it is indubitable that humans and Neanderthals co-existed for a long period of time. 

While cave bear teeth was the ‘bling’ of choice for the prehistoric people, other animal remains were also turned into jewellery.   

The researchers of the Nature study, headed up by Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin, write: ‘Several of the artefacts have red staining that is consistent with the use of ochre. 

‘We identified 1 [one] perforated ivory bead and 12 perforated or grooved pendants, 11 of which were made from cave bear teeth and 1 [one] from an ungulate tooth.’ 

Professor Hublin believes it is unlikely this first wave of humans into Europe around 45,000 years ago caused the demise of our ancient cousins. 

‘The Bacho Kiro Cave site provides evidence for the first dispersal of H. sapiens across the mid-latitudes of Eurasia,’ he explains.

‘Pioneer groups brought new behaviours into Europe and interacted with local Neanderthals.

‘This early wave largely predates that which led to their final extinction in western Europe 8,000 years later.’

Dr William Banks of the University of Bordeaux was not involved in the research but the prehistoric archaeologist wrote an opinion article accompanying the studies. 

He praised the research but says it is difficult to expand on its findings to narrow down when and how Neanderthals were wiped out. 

‘The results summarised and discussed are important because we as archaeologists ultimately wish to understand the population and cultural dynamics implicated in the observed disappearance of Neanderthal populations in Europe around 40,000 – 39,000 years ago,’ he writes.

‘It is important to keep in mind, nonetheless, that some of the characteristics of the data we use to investigate these issues render the task challenging.’

He says further research will need to be conducted to understand how, and indeed if, modern humans forced Neanderthals to extinction. 

‘These new results from Bacho Kiro provide us with an important piece of the puzzle, but many still remain to be put in place,’ he says.