Modern humans made three attempts to colonize Europe before settling. That is the conclusion of researchers who have studied the caves in the Rhone Valley in France for a long time, reports The Guardian, citing the study published in Plos One. In the cave, they have found evidence that homo sapiens had to make three determined attempts to go west and north from western Asia before they could establish themselves on the continent. – The first two attempts failed, but the third succeeded around 42,000 years ago, says Ludovic Slimak at the University of Toulouse to The Guardian. He leads the excavations in France. – After this, modern humans took over in Europe. The Neanderthals, who had evolved on the continent, died out. The study is likely to be controversial, writes the English newspaper, because it suggests that modern humans took 12,000 years to settle in Europe, it was far from a quick takeover. A reconstruction of the face of the first Neanderthal in the Netherlands, who has been named Krijn. On display at the National Museum in Leiden. Photo: AFP Were too few Homo sapiens’ transition to Europe was lengthy and involved journeys along the Mediterranean before heading north to the Rhône Valley. The first group that tried to settle in Europe didn’t stay long before they disappeared again, according to the researchers. They may have been a group of a few hundred, including women and children. – It was a real group that made a real attempt to colonize Western Europe, says Slimak. The answer to why there were unsuccessful attempts is simple, he says: The first groups of homo sapiens were not large enough. – It was perhaps not sufficient to maintain their biological strength, and perhaps they could not exchange genes with local Neanderthals because the fertility between them was poor, he says. In the cave Mandrin there was alternating cohabitation between Neanderthals and modern humans. The cave is between 51,700 and 56,800 years old. That is approximately 10,000 years before the previously assumed date of when humans first set foot in Europe. Photo: SWNS – Be friendly to each other Slimak disagrees with the established notion that Neanderthals and humans had a bad relationship. In fact, most indications are that the two groups were friendly towards each other, according to the research from France. Slimak has previously argued that modern humans, who first emerged from Africa around 60,000 years ago, may have been armed with bows and arrows. This is based on 54,000-year-old stone points found in the cave. This technology enabled hunters to kill from a safe distance, and would have given humans a significant advantage in encounters with local Neanderthals. Girl greets a reconstruction of a Neanderthal at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettman, Germany, not far from Düsseldorf, on the site where the first Neanderthals were found. Illustration: Neanderthal Museum/H. Neumann But after a period of about 40 years, the first group of human immigrants disappeared from the fossil record in the valley, and the site was subsequently occupied by Neanderthals. The researchers therefore ask themselves the question: If our ancestors were better equipped than the Neanderthals, why did the human invasion of Europe end in this way? The study is controversial because it challenges previous research into the origins of the important prehistoric stone tools. These are known as the Châtelperron tools. The tools have thin blades and a sophisticated construction, and have been attributed to the Neanderthals. But the new research rejects this. It claims that the Châtelperron tools were the work of Homo sapiens, not Neanderthals. – The tools are the handiwork of modern people. Given their similarity to stone tools made in the Middle East, we conclude that they were brought there by homo sapiens when they moved into Europe. The finds in the Mandrin cave in the south of France can prove that the first people to use a bow and arrow in Europe were humans, around 54,000 years ago. Photo: AFP Built social networks When the third wave of homo sapiens came to Europe, there were many more of them. – The third time the people came in a really large group. They built social networks, not with Neanderthals, but with small, separate groups of homo sapiens to build a large network throughout Europe, says Slimak. – In the end, that was what started the decline in the number of Neanderthals in Europe. The earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe was found in the Mandrin cave in southern France and provides evidence that modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals. Flint tips and arrowheads found are believed to be for the arrows used by humans when they hunted. Photo: AFP Did we eradicate them? In the past we have been told that homo sapiens exterminated the neanderthals. But according to researchers and authors, the matter is far more complicated. No physical evidence of either war or genocide has been found, writes forskning.no. It therefore seems likely that the Neanderthals disappeared due to a coincidence that many small details. Archaeological excavations have shown that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than previously thought, including burying their dead and making elaborate tools. They made a fire and cooked food. They painted their caves long before homo sapiens started doing it. The brains of Neanderthals were on average 115 percent larger than modern human brains. Most scientists agree that Neanderthals may have been wiser, but that their ideas may have spread less well because they were less social. The Neanderthals were few and lived in isolation from each other. Homo sapiens did not need to be smarter than Neanderthals, because humans learned more and from each other and were more interconnected. There was little use in being a genius in a cave by himself, writes forskning.no. The species mated and reproduced. One explanation is that the two human types merged into one. 40 percent of the Neanderthal’s genome lives on in Europeans, according to forskning.no. Slimak has been working on Mandrin Cave for over 30 years, and thousands of ancient bones, stone objects and tools have been found since the cave was discovered in the 1960s. Photo: AFP
ttn-69
Modern humans needed three attempts and 12,000 years to colonize Europe – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
