Ancient Interbreeding: Neanderthals and Modern Humans Trace Their First Musions in the Zagros
An international team of archaeologists from Germany, Denmark, and Iran has identified a pivotal region where early modern humans and Neanderthals may have interbred. Their discoveries, recently documented in the journal Scientific Reports, reveal a shared chapter in human evolution that stretches across southeastern Europe and southwest Asia. The researchers employed ecological niche modelling and geographic information systems to reconstruct where Neanderthals and Homo sapiens likely encountered one another as they migrated out of Africa and dispersed across Eurasia.
By mapping the geographic distribution of both species during the relevant period, the team narrowed potential interbreeding sites to a distinct area along the Zagros Mountains on the Iranian Plateau. This mountain system extends from Iran into the northern reaches of Iraq and southeastern Turkey, serving as a geographic corridor that connected diverse landscapes and populations. In this context, the Zagros region emerges as a strong candidate for encounters between two lineages that ultimately gave rise to contemporary humans.
In the same geographic theater, researchers note a high concentration of human and Neanderthal skeletal remains, underscoring the area’s significance for understanding late Pleistocene populations. The Shanidar Cave, a focal point of ongoing excavations, lies within this region and provides invaluable insights into burial practices, social structure, and ritual behavior of Neanderthal communities. These discoveries contribute to a more nuanced portrait of how Neanderthals lived and how they may have interacted with Homo sapiens as both groups navigated changing climates and landscapes.
Scholars have proposed that encounters between the two species could have occurred during the broader Persian Highlands phase of human migration, a period marked by movement along rugged terrains that offered routes for travel, exchange, and perhaps cultural fusion. The emerging narrative from this work emphasizes not only genetic interchanges but also the diffusion of technologies, dietary practices, and social strategies that would shape the trajectory of human evolution in Eurasia.
While some earlier theories proposed different trajectories for Neanderthal extinction, current interpretations highlight the complexity of interactions between Neanderthals and modern humans. Instead of a single, clean separation, the evidence points to a mosaic of contact zones, intermittent interbreeding events, and regional variations in how populations thrived or declined. This evolving picture aligns with contemporary understandings of human ancestry as a web of interconnected groups whose paths crossed repeatedly over thousands of years. The study thus adds a critical piece to the puzzle of how modern humans came to inhabit a world that was already inhabited by other hominin lineages, and it invites ongoing exploration of how these ancient encounters influenced genetic legacies observed in present-day populations. The research team frames these findings as a testament to the shared history of humanity and its deep roots across multiple landscapes in Eurasia, supported by a combination of fossil evidence and spatial modelling analyses.