One study has found that the oldest DNA ever found in human remains belongs to a woman who lived in the Czech Republic more than 45,000 years ago.
Analysis of its skull reveals that it was one of the first batches of Homo sapiens to live in Eurasia after our species migrated out of Africa.
It is believed that the woman, christened Zlatý kůň, may have had Neanderthal ancestors only six or fewer generations in her past.
The finding reinforces that humans mated with Neanderthals shortly after first arriving in Europe between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago.
This mating event saw humans absorb some Neanderthal genes that survive all modern people except Africans.
Neanderthals would become extinct soon after, and some researchers said competition with Homo sapiens and climate change were to blame.
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In the picture, the skull of a modern human woman named Zlatý kůň. The genetic material obtained from this specimen is believed to be the oldest human DNA found in Europe and shows that Homo sapiens mates with Neanderthals shortly after arriving in Europe.
In the picture, excavations in the Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria. Several modern human bones were recovered from this layer along with a rich set of stone tools, animal bones, bone tools and pendants.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany tried to date skeletal remains using radiocarbon isotopes, the traditional and widely used method of finding out when a fossil lived.
However, contamination of the remains made it impossible.
But Neanderthal DNA can be used as a proxy for dating because the length of its segments in the genetic code constantly decreases over generations.
The researchers found in their study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, that Zlatý kůň has long strips of uninterrupted Neanderthal DNA scattered throughout its genome, indicating that it lived shortly after humans mated with Neanderthals.
“The results of our DNA analysis show that Zlatý kůň lived closer to the time of the mixing event with Neanderthals,” says Kay Prüfer, co-author of the study.
In fact, the team estimates that Zlatý kůň lived only 2,000 years after the first interspecies tests between humans and Neanderthals.
The researchers found that the DNA of this person and their population is not seen in people in either Asia or Europe, where Homo sapiens was later colonized.
“It’s quite intriguing that the first modern humans in Europe were ultimately unsuccessful.” says Johannes Krause, lead author of the study and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
This evidence, according to academics, means that the individual in the Czech Republic is almost certainly larger than other candidates with a claim as the oldest human fossil in Europe.
Pictured, micro-sampling of Zlatý kůň bone from the base of the skull in the clean room of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
It is believed that the Czech woman, christened Zlatý kůň, may have had Neanderthal ancestors only six or fewer generations ago.
Two studies published today analyze the genetic information of Homo sapiens and the amount of Neanderthal DNA that was in its genome. One study was based in the Czech Republic and one in Bulgaria
Professor Chris Stringer, leader of human evolution research at the Museum of Natural History who did not participate in the research, said: “Partial skull and skeleton of Zlatý kůň were discovered in 1950 and was thought to have only about 15,000 years old.
“New analyzes of the woman’s skull have dated her to a 34,000-year-old radiocarbon, but genomic data suggest she is behind 10,000 years older than that and may represent one of the oldest modern humans. known to Eurasia so far “.
Last year, researchers discovered human remains in a Bulgarian cave called Bacho Kiro, which they said probably lived next to Neanderthals.
The cave was first discovered and excavated in the 1970s and is located 5 km from the town of Dryanovo.
In the picture, the intact tooth of a person found in the cave of Bacho Kiro in Bulgaria. Genome-wide data from this individual indicate that he had a Neanderthal ancestor less than six generations before he lived.
In the photo, the entrance to the Bacho Kiro cave. The excavations are located inside the entrance and to the left. The cave stretches for 3 km and is a popular tourist destination
A study also published today in the journal Nature revealed more information about these remains and found that they lived between 45,930 and 42,580 years before the present.
This finding supports last year’s claims that humans probably lived alongside Neanderthals for millennia before our cousin species became extinct about 40,000 years ago.
Analysis of their genome found that the three oldest people buried in the cave had more than three percent Neanderthal DNA in their genome.
Analysis of fossilized human remains found that people regularly hunted bison and deer, while turning animal teeth into fashion accessories, which is also known to have been done by Neanderthals.
In the image, excavations in the Bacho Kiro cave. The excavator at the front records artifacts (each marked with a colored pin). Bar code bags are for individual devices once their position is registered with a total station
A map showing the relative dates when humans arrived on different continents, including Europe 45,000 years ago. All of humanity began in Africa and went beyond it after scattering across the continent for thousands of years.
Several cave bear teeth that had become personal ornaments were also discovered at the Bulgarian site.
Professor Stringer adds that the findings indicate that there were “multiple pulses” of Homo sapiens scattered throughout Eurasia.
He believes that the different waves of Homo colonization they knew would explain why the Zlatý kůň lineage was not successful. This would also mean that there were several cross-breeding events with Neanderthals, he adds.