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'Oldest fossil of modern humans' uncovered

By Deborah Smith, Science Writer
September 24, 2003

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Unearthed in a bear's cave ... the oldest remains of modern humans.

Scientists believe the jawbone of a caveman found in Romania is the oldest fossil of modern humans to be uncovered so far in Europe.

The jawbone, believed to be 34,000 to 36,000 years old, has reignited debate about whether our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals.

Other human bones, including a facial skeleton and partial brain case, were found in the same cave but have yet to be fully analysed.

Erik Trinkaus, of Washington University in St Louis, said the other bones were likely to be of the same age as the jawbone, and together they presented the first picture of what modern humans looked like when they spread into Europe.

Most of their features were similar to those of early humans whose fossils have been found at sites in Africa, the Middle East, and later in Europe. But other characteristics were more archaic, which fitted the idea that they had interbred with Neanderthals, a different species of homo sapiens then living in Europe.

"Not only is the face very large, but so are the jaws and teeth, particularly the wisdom teeth," Professor Trinkaus said.

"In the human fossil record, you have to go back a half a million years to find a specimen that has bigger wisdom teeth."

Early humans, or Cro-Magnon, and Neanderthals lived side by side in Europe for thousands of years, with the Neanderthals eventually dying out. Separate research challenges the idea that the reason our ancestors survived was that they were more cunning and skilled at hunting than their thick-browed neighbours.

Researchers examined more than 7200 bones and teeth from mammals recovered from a cave in south-western France that was inhabited by Neanderthals and then Cro-Magnon. Donald Grayson, also of Washington University, said this record covering 50,000 years showed the two had similar tastes for animals including reindeer, red deer and horses.

"We could detect no difference in diet, the animals they were hunting and the way they were hunting, aside from those caused by climate change," he said.

"The idea that Neanderthals were big, dumb brutes is hard for some people to drop. Cro-Magnon created the first cave art, but late Neanderthals made body ornaments, so the depth of cognitive difference between the two is just not clear."



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