The oldest DNA ever found in human remains belongs to a woman who lived in the Czech Republic more than 45,000 years ago, a study found.
Analysis of its skull shows that it was among the first batches of Homo sapiens to live in Eurasia after our species migrated from Africa.
It is believed that the woman, nicknamed Zlatý kůň, may have had Neanderthal ancestors of up to six or fewer generations in her past.
The discovery reinforces that humans mated with Neanderthals shortly after we first arrived in Europe 50,000 and 45,000 years ago.
This mating event saw humans absorb some Neanderthal genes that survive in all modern humans except Africans.
Neanderthals will disappear soon after, with some researchers saying it is the Homo sapiens competition and climate change that are 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 considered to be the oldest human DNA found in Europe and proves that Homo sapiens mated with Neanderthals shortly after arriving in Europe.
In the photo, excavations at the Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria. Several modern human bones have been 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 have tried to date skeletal remains using radiocarbon isotopes, the traditional and widely used method to find out when a fossil lived.
However, contamination of the remains made this impossible.
But Neanderthal DNA can be used as a proxy for dating, because the length of its segments of the genetic code decreases constantly 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 not long after humans mated with Neanderthals.
“The results of our DNA analysis show that Zlatý kůň lived closer in time to the Neanderthal event,” said Kay Prüfer, co-author of the study.
In fact, the team estimates that Zlatý kůň lived only 2,000 years after the first interspecific attempts between humans and Neanderthals.
Researchers have found that the DNA of this person and their population is not seen in modern humans in Asia or Europe, where Homo sapiens later colonized.
“It’s quite interesting that the first modern people in Europe failed in the end!” says Johannes Krause, lead author of the study and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
This evidence, academics say, means that the Czech individual is almost certainly older than other suitors, with a claim to be the oldest human fossil in Europe.
In the photo, the micro-sampling of the 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, nicknamed Zlatý kůň, may have had Neanderthal ancestors only six or fewer generations ago.
Two studies published today look at the genetic information of Homo sapiens and how much Neanderthal DNA was in their 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 was not involved in the research, said: “The Zlatý kůň skull and partial skeleton were discovered in 1950 and are believed to be only 15,000 years old. years.
“New tests of the woman’s skull have yielded a radiocarbon about 34,000 years old, but genomic data suggest that it is 10,000 years older than this and may be one of the oldest known modern humans in Eurasia. ”
Last year, researchers discovered human remains in a Bulgarian cave called Bacho Kiro, which they said probably lived with 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 Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria. Genome data from this individual indicate that he had a Neanderthal ancestor less than six generations before he lived.
Pictured is the entrance to Bacho Kiro Cave. The excavations are just inside the entrance and to the left. The cave stretches for 3 km and is a popular tourist destination
A study published today in the journal Nature revealed an additional perspective on these remains and found that they lived between 45,930 and 42,580 years before the present.
This finding supports claims made last year that humans probably lived with Neanderthals for millennia before the summer species disappeared about 40,000 years ago.
Analysis of their genome found that the oldest three people buried in the cave had more than three percent Neanderthal DNA in their genome.
The analysis of fossilized human remains found that humans regularly hunted bison and deer, while turning animal teeth into fashion accessories – something that Neanderthals are known to have done.
In the picture, excavations at Bacho Kiro Cave. The front excavator records artifacts (each marked with a colored pin). Barcode bags are for individual artifacts once their position has been recorded with a total station
A map showing the relative data that people reached on different continents, including Europe 45,000 years ago. All mankind began in Africa and passed beyond it after spreading across the continent over thousands of years.
Several cave bear teeth that had been turned into personal ornaments were also discovered on the Bulgarian site.
Professor Stringer adds that the results show that there were “several impulses” of Homo sapiens that dispersed in Eurasia.
He believes that the various waves of Homo sapien colonization would explain why Zlatý kůň’s offspring were unsuccessful. This would also mean that there have been various cross-events with Neanderthals, he adds.