Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
1h ago

140,000-Year-Old Skhul Child Shows Earliest Physical Evidence of Human–Neanderthal Interbreeding

Micro-CT imaging reveals the Skhul child's skull combines Neanderthal anatomy with a Homo sapiens–like cranial vault.

Image
Male and female scientists study anatomy of fossil skull of ancient man using tablet computer. Archaeologists work in archaeological lab. Board with printed images of 3D visualization of humans head.
Image

Overview

  • Tel Aviv University and CNRS researchers reanalyzed a roughly five-year-old, likely female fossil from Skhul Cave in northern Israel using advanced scans and morphological comparisons.
  • The study reports Homo sapiens–style overall cranial curvature alongside Neanderthal-typical intracranial blood vessel patterns, mandible features, and inner ear structure.
  • The specimen is dated to about 140,000 years ago, pushing back the earliest physical evidence for such mixing by roughly 100,000 years compared with commonly cited 60,000–40,000-year timelines.
  • The authors interpret parts of the Skhul assemblage as products of prolonged local gene flow, proposing continuous genetic infiltration from older Levantine Neanderthals into incoming Homo sapiens groups.
  • The findings, published in l’Anthropologie, are based on morphology rather than new ancient DNA, and coverage notes prior genetic studies place ancestry-contributing admixture much later in time.