Archaeologists in Willendorf, Austria made some surprising discoveries on a recent excavation. They found artifacts that modern humans created 43,500 years ago, making them the oldest known modern human artifacts in Europe — and proving that Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for longer than scientists previously thought.
The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Dr. Philip Nigst of the University of Cambridge. Dr. Nigst, who oversaw archaeologists from a number of countries on the dig, said in a statement that the excavated tools come from the Aurignacian culture, which is "generally accepted as indicative of modern human presence" in Europe.
"The recent finds indicate a modern human presence and the date of the artifacts represents the oldest well-documented occurrence of modern humans in Europe," Dr. Nigst said in the statement. "The Willendorf finds strongly suggest that modern humans and Neanderthals met and interacted, and may well have exchanged both mates and ideas... The timing of these events cannot be a coincidence."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beatspeed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
