The Oldest Homo Sapiens In Europe Found in a Bulgarian Cave

Scientists have found bones in a Bulgarian cave that show modern humans may have arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought, at a time when the region had long been home to Neanderthals.

Five fossils, four bone fragments and a tooth, were found in Bulgaria's Bacho Kiro cave, according to two studies published on Monday. Detailed radiocarbon and DNA tests show that the bones anatomically belonged to four Homo sapiens, the oldest dating back some 46,000 years.

An array of artifacts, believed to have been made by the humans, were also found at the site. These include pendants made from the teeth of cave bears, which are about 47,000 years old. The pendants share striking similarities to the ones later made by the Neanderthals in Western Europe, suggesting that they adopted aspects of human culture at the time./dw.com