[ad_1]
WARSAW, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) – The oldest human remains of more than 100,000 years have been discovered in Poland, the Polish news agency recently announced.
The remains, found in the cave of Ciemna, in the south of Poland, are bones of the hand belonging to a Neanderthal child.
According to Professor Pawel Valde-Nowak of the Institute of Archeology of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow, the remains date back to about 115,000 years ago. The child's bones were digested by a big bird. "This is the first known example of the ice age," said Professor Valde-Nowak.
The Neanderthal child, aged about 5 to 7 years old, may have been attacked and partially consumed by a bird, which could also feed on a dead child. The poor condition of the bones and their small size, not exceeding 1 cm, prevent researchers from performing a DNA analysis. However, the layer in which the remains were found is no doubt as to their membership in a Neanderthal.
The remains were discovered a few years ago, but mixed with animal bones. It is not until now that scientists have made this discovery using detailed laboratory analyzes.
Professor Valde-Nowak points out that there are no remains of human species that precede Neanderthals in Poland, which makes the discovery even more vital.
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were very close relatives of modern humans (Homo sapiens), which probably appeared in Europe about 300 000 years ago and nearly extinguished there are about 35 000 years.
Source link
