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Tiny fragments of bone found in a Polish cave have told the story well.
The two hand bones of less than one centimeter would have belonged to a young Neanderthal child, before being eaten by a big bird – 150,000 years ago.
Crazy crazy?
What is even more interesting is that until these bones were discovered, the oldest bones discovered in Poland before were half as old, aged 52 to 42 000 years.
The amazing discovery was discovered during excavations carried out in the Ciemna Cave of Ojcowski National Park, near Krakow, as part of a grant from a Polish science center.
Researchers have identified the bones as phalanges of the hand of a Neanderthal child.
Professor Pawel Valde-Nowak of the Krakow Institute of Archeology stated Science in Poland that the bones were the oldest human remains discovered in today's Poland, dating back to about 115,000 years ago.
The scientists noted that the bones had been poorly preserved and that their surface was porous, which compared it to a colander.
This means that they will not be able to perform DNA analysis on them.
"The analyzes show that this results from the passage into the digestive system of a large bird. This is the first known example of the ice age, "said Professor Valde-Nowak.
"The scientist thinks that the bird could attack and partly consume a young Neanderthal (probably aged 5 to 7 years). He could also feed on a dead child. According to the researchers, no option can be excluded at this stage. "
The identification was confirmed by two anthropologists: Dr. Anita Szczepanek from the Jagiellonian University of Krakow and Prof. Erik Trinkaus from the University of Washington in St. Louis, according to Science in Poland.
"But we do not doubt that it is Neanderthal remains, because they come from a very deep layer of the cave, a few meters below the current surface." This layer also contains typical stone tools used by the Neanderthal, "said Professor Valde-Nowak.
The bone fragments would have been discovered a few years ago and would have been mixed with animal bones – Science in Poland reports that underground research in the region has been ongoing for several decades.
Only until this year did the research team realize that the bones were human during additional laboratory tests.
Professor Valde-Nowak said the discovery was a "unique discovery".
"We can count the Neanderthal remains found in Poland on the fingers of one hand!"
These include the bones of the hand and the three molars found in Stajnia Cave, which were previously considered the oldest human remains discovered in this country of Eastern Europe. Another tooth was also found in Ciemna Cave.
Neanderthals are close relatives of modern humans, who died in Europe about 40,000 years ago.
For a long time, the species has been presented unfavorably, as semi-animal and primitive. However, recent research has shown that the species has more in common with humans, such as the tools used and rock carvings performed in caves.
According to ancient DNA studies, some of the earliest modern human gangs met and mated with Neanderthals about 100,000 years ago.
The analysis of a toe of a Neanderthal woman found in Siberia, Russia, showed that she had probably inherited the DNA inherited from modern humans. # 39; Africa.
"This is the first genetic evidence that early modern humans met Neanderthals and raised them earlier than expected," said evolution biologist Sergi Castellano at Sciencemag.org in 2016.
LiveScience reported in 2016 that these old methods could be linked to the development of modern health problems such as depression, heart attacks, nicotine addiction and obesity.
The researchers found that genetic variants of Neanderthal in humans were significantly related to an increased risk of 12 health-related traits.
"There is still a discussion about the life span of Neanderthals in Europe, including Poland. Unfortunately, we have no solid arguments in this discussion and we have no evidence of the coexistence of the two species in Poland, which has been confirmed in Western Europe, "said Professor Valde-Nowak about the last discovery.
More information on the discovery will be published later this year in the Journal of Palaeolithic Archeology.
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