The skeleton of a child changes the way the history of our species was written. A surprising archaeological discovery in Israel
Neanderthal (reconstruction) photo people: Hans Winke / Alamy / Profimedia
A team of Israeli and French researchers has discovered the oldest physical evidence that Neanderthalia and modern people not only coexisted, but also had social interactions and crossed, the University of Tel Aviv announced on Wednesday, the Xinhua Agency, taken over by Agerpres.
The study, published in the Scientific Journal of Anthropology, focused on the fossil of a five -year -old, discovered in the Skhul cave on Mount Carmel, in northern Israel.
Fosila, about 140,000 years old, presents traits of both Neanderthalians and Homo Sapiens, species considered, many years, separate.
Previous genetic studies have shown that these two groups have exchanged genes and, even today, 40,000 years since the disappearance of the last Neanderthal people, between 2% and 6% of the modern human genome is of Neanderthalian origin.
However, it was believed that these genetic exchanges took place much later, 60,000-40,000 years ago. The discovery is awarded this moment, thanks to this child with the modern man's skull, but with the vascular system, the lower jaw and the typical neanderthalians internal ear.
Research shows that the first Neanderthalians have lived in ancient Israel for 400,000 years. They encountered copies of homo sapiens, who began to migrate from Africa about 200,000 years ago, and the two groups crossed.
The child's baby's fossil is the oldest known fossil that shows the biological and social links between these populations. The local Neanderthalia finally disappeared after they were absorbed into the population of modern people.
The methods of advanced scanning and 3D modeling of the skull and jaw have helped the researchers analyze the complex structures, including the blood vessels of the brain and the inner ear, confirming the hybrid features of the fossil.
