Did you know that the remains of a man who scientists believe lived 40,000 years ago and was a child of various species of the genus Homo have been found in northern Italy?
THE ORIGIN IS IN THE GENES
This is the first evidence that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens crossed and experts have long thought that this is possible, because 1-4 percent of genes that indicate Neanderthal origin were found in the DNA of Europeans and Asians.
There are other similarities. The structure of the lower jaw has similarities witch Neanderthals, but also with modern man. Namely, while Neanderthals have a descending lower jaw without a beard, modern man has a lowered jaw with a very pronounced beard, as explained by Silvana Condemi, anthropologist and co-author of a study published on this topic in PLOS One magazine.
Genetic analyzes show that the DNA found in the mitochondria of the remains found in Riparo Maecenas comes from Neanderthals. As this type of DNA is transmitted from mother to child, this research shows that Neanderthal women most often entered into relationships with homo sapiens.
MIXING
By the time humans arrived in those areas, Neanderthals had already developed their culture that lasted two to three hundred thousand years. Many tools - such as axes and spears - are associated with the Musterien, a stone tool belonging to meddle Paleolithic culture, and testify to Neanderthal culture.
Scientists have discovered that, despite the mixing of homo sapiens and Neanderthals, the latter still retained their culture and tradition.
Kondemijeva and her colleagues came to the conclusion that the culture and customs of the Neanderthals were slowly changing, not because over time the human population become more numerous than them.
Although both homo sapiens and Neanderthals lived side by side in the area of present-day Italy and - as we can see - crossed paths, it is assumed that newcomers were not desirable. Anthropologists also point out the possibility that homo sapiens raped Neanderthals, which gradually lost one species to the area.