Ancient DNA revealed that our species, Homo sapiens, once interbred with Neanderthals, but what was the nature of those Stone Age encounters tens of thousands of years ago?
Discoveries unearthed in a cave in what’s now Turkey indicate the two groups did not merely cross paths but may have shared some cultural traditions, making similar tools and collecting the same kind of shell.
“Our findings suggest that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens likely shared more than just the same landscape,” lead author İsmail Baykara said via email, discussing the new research published Monday in the journal PNAS.
“Although we cannot yet prove direct contact, the remarkable continuity in technology, hunting practices, and the transport of bead-seashells is consistent with the idea that these populations interacted and shared cultural traditions over time.”
While archaeologists have known about the Üçağızlı II cave in southern Turkey for some time, the first systematic excavation began in 2020, said Baykara, a professor in the department of archaeology at Gaziantep University in Turkey.
