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The research team performing excavations at the cave site in 2024. Early modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived together in the same caves, according to new research. (KyotoU \/ Naoki Morimoto via SWNS)<\/p>\n
By Talker<\/p>\n
By Stephen Beech<\/p>\n
Early modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived together in the same caves, according to new research.<\/p>\n
The two different species even collected the same seashells<\/a>, suggesting a cultural exchange that crossed the biological divide, say scientists.<\/p>\n Previous studies have shown that tens of thousands of years ago, our own species, Homo sapiens, coexisted with Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis.<\/p>\n Many people living today carry a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, indicating that the two species may have shared much more than just the same land.<\/p>\n Now, a breakthrough archaeological discovery has revealed that the two species did not merely cross paths: they possibly shared a common culture that spanned over 20,000 years.<\/p>\n Humans migrated from our original home in Africa to other parts of the world, but human fossils from around that time have been scarce in the Levant, a primary corridor between Africa and Eurasia.<\/p>\n In search of more evidence of both modern humans and Neanderthals, an international team of researchers headed to \u00dc\u00e7a\u00c4\u009f\u00c4\u00b1zl\u00c4\u00b1 II Cave in Hatay Province, southern Turkey.<\/p>\n Five years of meticulous millimeter-by-millimeter excavation revealed evidence of both species living in the same space, utilizing identical stone tool technologies and survival strategies.<\/p>\n The research team at the excavation site in 2024. (KyotoU \/ Naoki Morimoto via SWNS)<\/p>\n By Talker<\/p>\n<\/p>\n