Modern humans first arrived in westernmost Europe 5,000 years earlier than was previously believed — and may have overlapped with Neanderthals — a study found. Archaeologists digging in the Lapa do Picareiro cave of central Portugal's Atlantic coast have unearthed stone tools characteristic of modern humans. The discovery, they added, has 'important ramifications' for understanding the possibility of interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals in the region. Modern humans first arrived in westernmost Europe 5,000 years earlier than was previously believed — and may have overlapped with Neanderthals — a study found. Dating the bones with accelerator mass spectrometry, the team have determined that modern humans arrived in the area around 41,000–38,000 years ago.

Source: Daily Mail September 28, 2020 19:01 UTC