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4w 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.

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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.
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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.