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Old finds often still hold significant scientific potential. In the case of the finds excavated in the 1930s at the Ilsenhöhle near Ranis (Thuringia), which are kept by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, genetic research is now providing new insights. An international team of researchers has succeeded in decoding the oldest genomes of modern humans to date. They come from seven individuals who lived in Ranis and Zlatý kůň (Czech Republic) 42,000-49,000 years ago. The study limits the period of interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals to around 45,000-49,000 years BP - much later than previously assumed.
The State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology (LDA) Saxony-Anhalt has more than 16 million items in its find deposits. This immense scientific treasure is continuously processed and frequently forms the basis for research that leads to sensational results. Old finds that have been stored for a long time can still hold enormous potential unlocked by methodological advances. In recent years, it has been the study of ancient DNA in particular that has regularly led to sensational findings. This is also the case with the finds from excavations carried out by Werner M. Hülle in the Ilsenhöhle near Ranis (Thuringia) between 1932 and 1938, which are kept by the LDA.
Re-examination of Ranis' old finds
The investigations in Ranis revealed, among other things, a layer (X/Ranis 2) that is characterized by long, narrow leaf-shaped points made from flint blades and is dated to around 45,000 years ago. For a long time it was controversial whether this technocomplex can be linked to the Neanderthals or to early modern humans. In a previous study (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02303-6), 13 bone fragments from the collection in Halle and from recent excavations in Ranis by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (MPI EVA) and the Thuringian State Office for Archeology were examined for mitochondrial DNA inherited from the mother's side. The DNA came exclusively from modern humans. However, the informative potential of mitochondrial DNA is limited because it only represents a fraction of the genome. In order to answer questions about family relationships, for example, the entire genome must be decoded. An international research team led by researchers from the MPI EVA has now achieved this in a study that was published today in Nature. The 13 bone fragments could be assigned to at least six individuals, with three being genetically male and three being genetically female.
Connections to Zlatý kůň
About 250 kilometers from Ranis, Zlatý kůň (Czech Republic) is a second important site for the early settlement of Europe by Homo sapiens. The approximately 45,000-year-old skull of a woman was found there, whose genetic material could also be analyzed. A comparison revealed a fifth or sixth degree genetic relationship between the woman and two of the individuals from Ranis. The comprehensive decoding of the genomes also allowed a phenotypic reconstruction of the early modern humans: they had dark skin and hair color and brown eyes.
Modern humans and Neanderthals
The people of Ranis and Zlatý kůň belonged to a small, isolated population that advanced early into Europe from Africa. Because of their age, the genomes are also informative about the interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals. The genomes examined show Neanderthal genome segments from only a single admixture event common to all non-Africans. By examining the length of the sections contributed by the Neanderthals in the completely reconstructed genome of an individual from Ranis (Ranis 13), it can be determined that this happened around 45,000 to 49,000 years ago. This means that the interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals occurred much later than previously assumed.
»The sensational results of the investigations into the finds from Ranis take us a big step further in understanding the early history of the colonization of Europe by Homo sapiens. Above all, they also show how important it is to preserve archaeological finds in the long term in order to enable investigations using new methods. If finds that appear to have been researched completely were simply disposed of, the loss would be fatal for science," says Harald Meller, state archaeologist for Saxony-Anhalt.
Arev P. Sümer, Hélène Rougier, Vanessa Villalba-Mouco, Yilei Huang, Leonardo N. M. Iasi, Elena Essel, Alba Bossoms Mesa, Anja Furtwaengler, Stéphane Peyrégne, Cesare de Filippo, Adam B. Rohrlach, Federica Pierini, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Helen Fewlass, Elena I. Zavala, Dorothea Mylopotamitaki, Raffaela A. Bianco, Anna Schmidt, Julia Zorn, Birgit Nickel, Anna Patova, Cosimo Posth, Geoff M. Smith, Karen Ruebens, Virginie Sinet-Mathiot, Alexander Stoessel, Holger Dietl, Jörg Orschiedt, Janet Kelso, Hugo Zeberg, Kirsten I. Bos, Frido Welker, Marcel Weiss, Shannon McPherron, Tim Schüler, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Petr Velemínský, Jaroslav Brůžek, Benjamin M. Peter, Matthias Meyer, Harald Meller, Harald Ringbauer, Mateja Hajdinjak, Kay Prüfer, Johannes Krause, Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture. Nature 2024: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08420-x.
View from the Ilsenhöhle below castle Ranis.
Archive.
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
Leaf-shaped point made from flint from Ranis
Juraj Lipták
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
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