(ORDO NEWS) — Three human milk teeth found in the Spanish cave of El Castillo belong to Neanderthals.
Approximately 80-60 thousand years ago, people of the modern anatomical type left Africa. They were carriers of the Upper Paleolithic archaeological culture.
Approximately 40 thousand years ago, they ended up in Europe, where for several millennia they coexisted with the Neanderthals living there.
They finally disappeared 41-39 thousand years ago, but scientists still do not have a final answer in what form their coexistence took place, but it is known for sure that the Neanderthal culture influenced the ancestors of modern people.
A group of scientists from Spain and France, led by Maria-Dolores Garralda (Maria-Dolores Garralda) from the Complutense University of Madrid, examined three crowns of milk teeth found during excavations in the cave of El Castillo.
They were found in the cultural layer-18, dating back to the time of the transition from the Middle Paleolithic to the Upper.
A more accurate analysis showed that the layer was formed 44940–42110 years ago. Scientists came to the conclusion that the teeth belonged to two or three children (probably three) of indeterminate sex, aged from 4-5 to 9-11 years.
They noted that the teeth were found in what is thought to be a butchery area. Probably, the children lived nearby, and not necessarily at the same time. The features of these teeth have allowed paleoanthropologists to identify them as Neanderthal. Moreover, one of the teeth
Because El Castillo Cave contains traces of human activity from many prehistoric eras, and both Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons have been there, the conclusion of the work will help scientists to better reconstruct the interaction of different types of people.
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