Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) found a combination of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens traits in the skull of a 5-year-old child discovered about 90 years ago in the Skhul cave on Mount Carmel, Israel. At 140,000 years old, it is the oldest-known human fossil with characteristics of both groups, which are considered distinct species. It may be the earliest evidence that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interacted biologically and socially in the region, even interbreeding. “The child’s skull, which in its overall shape resembles that of Homo sapiens—especially in the curvature of the skull vault—has an intracranial blood supply system, a lower jaw, and an inner ear structure typical of Neanderthals,” wrote TAU anthropologist Israel Hershkovitz in a university statement. In 1998, the 28,000-year-old skeleton of a child with traits from both human groups was discovered in Portugal (Anthropology, July-August).
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