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WASHINGTON, March 9 – Neanderthal fossils from a Belgian cave believed to belong to the survivors of their species have ever been found in Europe thousands of years older than once thought, a study says new yesterday.
The radiocarbon age of the remains of the recent Spy Cave brought about 24,000 years ago, but the new test pushes the clock back to between 44,200 and 40,600 years ago.
The research appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was made by a team from Belgium, Britain and Germany.
Co-lead author Thibaut Deviese of Oxford University and Aix-Marseille University told AFP that he and colleagues had developed a more robust approach to preparing samples, which was better at contaminating contaminants.
A strong idea of when our closest relatives left is seen as a key step towards understanding more about their nature and potential, as well as why they eventually became extinct while our own ancestors.
The new method still relies on radiocarbon dating, which has long been considered the gold standard of archeology, but updates the way samples are collected.
All living things take in carbon from the atmosphere and the food, including the radioactive form of carbon-14, which decays over time.
As plants and animals stop absorbing carbon-14 when they die, the amount left over when they are dated tells us how long ago it was. they live.
When it comes to bones, scientists exclude the part that is made up of collagen because it is organic.
“What we have done is go a step further,” said Deviese, as contamination from the burial environment or through glues used for museum work can damage the sample.
Instead, the team looked for the building blocks of collagen, molecules called amino acids, and specifically selected one specific amino acid that they could be sure was part of the collagen.
‘Reliable framework’
The authors dated Neanderthal samples from two additional Belgian sites, Fonds-de-Foret and Engis, finding comparable ages.
“Going around these Belgian specimens was inspiring because they played a big part in the understanding and interpretation of Neanderthals,” said co-author Gregory Abrams, of the Scladina Cave Archaeological Center in Belgium.
“Almost two centuries after the baby Neanderthal Engis was found, we were able to provide a reliable age.”
At the same time genetic classification could show that Neanderthal shoulder bone dated 28,000 years ago was heavily contaminated with cattle DNA, indicating that the bone was preserved by glue made from cattle bones.
“Eating is crucial in archeology. Without a reliable framework of chronology, we cannot be confident in understanding the relationships between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, ”said co-author Tom Higham of Oxford University.
Neanderthals have been given some use of stone tools and it was explained as an indication of how they came to mind, Deviese said.
But if the timeline for Neanderthals is to be pushed back, Deviese added, then Paleolithic industries should be re-examined to see if they were actually working of the hominid genre that disappeared. – AFP