An ancient human lineage roamed Europe's frozen tundra for nearly 80 generations. Then they died out.

[Judi Lynn]

byTibi Puiu December 17, 2024
Time: 5 mins read
Edited and reviewed by Zoe Gordon

Some 45,000 years ago, in the frigid reaches of Ice Age Europe, a small band of humans trudged across the tundra, their dark skin warmed by fur-lined cloaks. They hunted woolly rhinos, fashioned distinctive stone tools, and perhaps exchanged stories around fires in caves. A new discovery of ancient genomes brings these forgotten ancestors — and their fleeting presence — into clearer view.

Their story, revealed through fossilized remains unearthed in Germany and the Czech Republic, uncovers a surprising twist in the saga of human migration out of Africa.

These genomes are the oldest yet found of modern humans in Europe. Like any good research, these genomes lead to more questions than they answer, deepening the mystery of when, exactly, humans left Africa and how they mingled with our evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals.

In the cave in Ranis, Germany, archaeologists recovered bone fragments belonging to six individuals — a family that included a mother, her daughter, and distant cousins. The remains, sequenced by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, date back 45,000 years. They are part of a cultural group known as the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician, or LRJ for short.

More:
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-oldest-human-genomes-in-europe-show-how-an-entire-branch-of-humanity-disappeared/