Sapiens and Neanderthals would have coexisted for at least 1,400 years in France and Spain

Remember.

Last February, researchers who analyzed ancient teeth told us an incredible story: Sapiens and Neanderthals alternately occupied a site in the Rhône valley, the Mandrin cave, around 54,000 years ago, sometimes transmitting the " keys" of the place from one year to the next.

Contrary to the received idea that once our species was established somewhere, the other humans disappeared.

As if that weren't enough, the discovery set back the appearance of modern humans in Western Europe by 10,000 years.

However, such an old eruption is unique in France.

It was not enough to conclude to a lasting coexistence of the two species on the territory.

In order to make up for the shortcomings of the archaeological archives, another team of scientists tried their hand at the game of probabilities by using mathematical models.

Result of their complex calculations: in France and in the north of Spain, the two groups of humans would have cohabited for at least 1,400 years and up to 2,900 years!

Fill in the gaps in the timeline

To reach these conclusions, published Thursday in Scientific Reports, the team passed carbon 14 to some 28 animal bones left behind by Homo sapiens and as much Neanderthal waste, which made it possible to obtain relatively precise dating.

She also carried out this work on a dozen Neanderthal fossils.

“We only focused on the sites where there was a recurrent and significant presence of the two species”, specifies Marie Soressi, professor at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Once this data was collected, the researchers set out to fill in the gaps in the timeline with math.

LP / Infographic

The operation consisted in deducing the oldest and most recent dates at which the two human groups could have been present.

“These models are the ones used by biologists to understand when a species has gone extinct for real.

Because we never found the last dodo in Mauritius!

“, illustrates the co-author of the article.

This is how scientists were able to estimate that modern man was present at least 1,400 years before the disappearance of his relative in France and northern Spain.

A decisive fact since these regions are those where we find the last traces of Neanderthals in Europe.

Peaceful or violent?

Until now, it was thought that the two hominids were present simultaneously in Europe for 4,000 to 6,000 years.

But this estimate on a continental scale did not say much about their possible meetings: "There is a hell of a distance between Bulgaria and France, which we must have taken a lot of time to cover," says Marie Soressi .

The new study has the merit of tightening the noose on a regional scale, even showing, for the first time, an expansion of modern man from the South of France to the North.

However, did Neanderthals and Sapiens interact in our regions?

Clues show that in France the former sometimes imitated the know-how and practices of the latter, suggesting encounters.

"But it's hard to say whether the interactions were peaceful or more difficult.

We don't know their nature any more than their frequency,” stresses Marie Soressi.

To try to find out more, the archaeologist will participate, next week, in new excavations on the site of Quinçay, in Vienne, representative of a pivotal moment between the two species.

“The important thing to understand is that before their disappearance, the Neanderthals were thousands of individuals across Europe.

At the time, the world is completely empty of humans.

Obviously, they managed to meet.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have had any descendants and we wouldn't be here to talk about it, ”says Marie Soressi.

Because we all have Neanderthal genes, an essential knowledge drawn from the work of a certain Svante Pääbo, who became the Nobel Prize for Medicine last week.

But, insists Marie Soressi, “genes can be acquired both peacefully and violently”…