Researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research have illuminated a pivotal chapter in European prehistory. They report that the first permanent inhabitants of Europe likely settled in the Crimean region, with evidence pointing to an occupation date around 37 thousand years ago. The findings, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, place Crimea at the center of Europe’s early human continuity rather than in a strictly western corridor. The study adds a crucial piece to the puzzle of how people moved, settled, and persisted through dramatic climate shifts in the late Pleistocene.
Long before permanent communities formed across much of Europe, waves of people arrived from Africa about 60 thousand years ago. The earliest groups were largely nomadic, moving across landscapes rather than staying in a single locale for extended periods. A cataclysmic event roughly 40 thousand years ago, a supervolcanic eruption in southern Italy, is believed to have wiped out many groups, including both early modern humans and Neanderthals in parts of Europe. In this new genetic study, scientists analyzed the DNA of individuals linked to the Buran Kaya III cave complex on the Crimean Peninsula, suggesting this site served as a cradle for the spread of new technologies and cultural practices that would shape Europe for tens of thousands of years.
Buran Kaya III, first uncovered in 1990, has yielded artifacts spanning from the Middle Paleolithic through the Middle Ages. The assemblage includes stone implements and carved bone pieces that resemble Gravettian culture. These traces indicate a cultural lineage that began to flourish roughly 38 to 34 thousand years ago and eventually contributed to the wider diffusion of Gravettian style across southern and central Europe. The discovery supports the idea that the Crimean region played a central role in the early formation and dissemination of this influential European cultural tradition.
In the latest analysis, researchers sequenced the genomes of two men associated with Buran Kaya III, with age estimates between 35 and 37 thousand years. When compared with the genomes of contemporaries across Europe, the data reveal a significant south-to-north movement of people following a climate rebound around 38 thousand years ago. This migration helped seed Eastern and Central Europe with new genetic lineages and accompanying cultural practices, reinforcing Crimea as a key source for the peopling of broader European regions during the later stages of the Upper Paleolithic.
Ultimately, the study paints a picture of early Europe as a dynamic tapestry of movement, exchange, and adaptation. The evidence from Crimea underscores how environmental shifts can drive population dispersals and cultural transmissions, shaping the material culture and social networks that followed. In this narrative, Buran Kaya III stands out as a critical waypoint that bridged distant groups, linking regional innovations with wider European trajectories. The cross-cultural connections traced from these findings offer a richer understanding of how ancient populations navigated climate challenges while extending their influence across the continent.