Several humanoid teeth found at the Palaeolithic site of La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey may belong to Neanderthalhomo sapiens hybrids, according to new research led by the Natural History Museum, London.
A reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.
The thirteen teeth that were permanently broken out were excavated at the Paleolithic site of La Cotte de St Brelade in 1910 and 1911.
They were all found in the same location, on a ledge behind a hearth in the cave.
“La Cotte de St Brelade is a site of enormous importance and it continues to reveal stories about our ancient predecessors,” said Olga Finch, Jersey Heritage Archaeological Curator.
Although the La Cotte teeth have Neanderthal features, several specimens lack features normally found in Neanderthals, and certain aspects of their shape are typical of anatomically modern humans.
Recent dating of adjacent sediments suggested a likely age of less than 48,000 years for the fossils. This suggests they could have represented some of the youngest Neanderthal remains.
“Given that modern humans in some parts of Europe overlap with Neanderthals in some parts of Europe after 45,000 years ago, the unusual features of these La Cotte individuals suggest they could have had a dual Neanderthal modern human ancestry,” said senior author professor Chris Stringer, a researcher. at the Earth Sciences Department of the Natural History Museum, London.
“This idea of a hybrid population can be tested by recovering ancient DNA from teeth, something that is now being investigated.”
The La Cotte teeth were previously recorded as belonging to a single Neanderthal.
However, Professor Stringer and colleagues found that the teeth are from at least two adult individuals that share the same distinguishing features, indicating features that exist in their population.
“This work offers us a glimpse of a new and intriguing population of Neanderthals and opens the door to a new phase of discovery at the site,” said study co-author Dr. Matt Pope, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at University College. London.
“We will now work with Jersey Heritage to recover new finds and fossils from La Cotte de St Brelade, conduct a new program analysis with our scientific colleagues, and implement engineering to protect this highly vulnerable site for the future . “
“It will be a massive project and one to watch out for those fascinated by our closest evolutionary relatives.”
The results are published in the Journal of Human Evolution.
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Tim Compton et al. 2021. The morphology of the late Pleistocene hominids remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands). Journal of Human Evolution 152: 102939; doi: 10.1016 / j.jhevol.2020.102939
This article is based on text from the Natural History Museum, London.