Scientists from the University of Toulouse in France found that it took three waves of migration and 12,000 years for human ancestors to colonize Europe and “evacuate” Neanderthals. Results of the study published In PLOS ONE magazine.
Previously, it was believed that people settled in Europe in 42-45 thousand years BC. This period dates back to the teeth of representatives of the Aurignacian culture, discovered by archaeologists in Bulgaria and Italy. Now scientists suggest that this is only the time of the last, third wave of colonization.
Scientists have studied stone tools in detail to study the history of Homo Sapiens activity in Western Eurasia. But the starting point for the study was a tooth found at Grotte Mandrin in the Rhone Valley in southern France.
In 2022, scientists linked this fossil tooth to “Nero” stone artifacts at the Grotto de Néron site, tiny flint arrowheads and spearheads that turned out to be unlike anything previously found in Europe. They testify that Homo Sapiens first arrived in Europe about 54,000 years ago. The latter came between the 45th millennium BC. The third phase coincides with the 42nd millennium BC.
Scientists believe that the proposed hypothesis regarding the settlement of Europe will become dominant in science, but time will pass and additional studies must be done.