Neanderthals disappeared from Europe 20,000 years earlier than previously thought

Radiocarbon studies carried out on remains found in the Belgian cave of Spand they showed an antiquity of 24,000 years, But new examinations show they date back between 44,200 and 40,600 years.

The research was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) from the United States and was conducted by scientists from Belgium, Great Britain and Germany.

One of the co-authors of the study, Thibaut devieseHe told AFP that new technology had been used to study the samples and rule out contaminants. Get a clear idea of ​​when these ancestors closest to Homo Sapiens disappeared it is considered an essential first step in understanding your nature and your capabilities.

New technology still uses radiocarbon, a sort of gold standard of archeology, but it is more refined to analyze the pieces. All living things absorb carbon from the atmosphere and food, including radioactive carbon-14, which disappears over time.

Therefore, when animals and plants die, they stop absorbing carbon 14, and lThe amount that is left in their remains allows us to determine how many years they have lived.

When it comes to bones, scientists study the parts with collagen, a protein substance found in bone and cartilage tissue because it is organic.

“What we have done is to take a new step”, Deviese said, because samples can be damaged by contamination of the site where they were found or by substances used in museums to maintain them.

The team of researchers then turned to the analysis of collagen blocks and specifically selected the amino acids that were surely part of collagen.

The authors of the study also established the age of the specimens found at two other Belgian sites (Fonds de Foret and Engis) and found comparable ages.

“Meeting these Belgian specimens was very exciting as they played an important role in understanding and defining Neanderthals”, said co-author Gregory Abrams.

“Almost two centuries after the discovery of the Neanderthal son of Engis, we were able to have a reliable age”, he claimed.

Genetic sequencing has shown that a Neanderthal shoulder previously established at 28,000 years old is heavily contaminated with bovine DNA, indicating that the bone had been preserved with a glue made from bovine bone.