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Image Credit: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
New Genetic Evidence Reconstructs Early Neanderthals in Central Eastern Europe
A new study has shed light on one of the oldest genetically reconstructed Neanderthal groups in Central-Eastern Europe, based on ancient mitochondrial DNA extracted from eight teeth discovered in Stajnia Cave in Poland. The research offers a rare opportunity to examine several Neanderthal individuals from the same site and the same broad chronological horizon, providing an unusually coherent picture of a local group living around 100,000 years ago.
According to the study, at least seven Neanderthals are represented in the material from the cave, making the site exceptional in the European record. Most Neanderthal genetic evidence has been obtained from isolated fossils or from remains recovered at different sites and from different periods. By contrast, the Stajnia assemblage allows researchers to investigate a small group from a shared context.
The results also contribute to understanding the distribution of an early Neanderthal maternal lineage across western Eurasia. The mitochondrial DNA identified at Stajnia belongs to the same broader branch known from individuals found in the Iberian Peninsula, south-eastern France, and the northern Caucasus. This suggests that the lineage had once been widely distributed before later Neanderthal populations came to be dominated by different genetic signatures.
The study further indicates that two teeth from juvenile individuals and one from an adult share the same mitochondrial DNA, pointing to a possible close maternal relationship among them.
Researchers also used the findings to revisit wider chronological questions. Comparison with another Neanderthal individual from France, known as Thorin, shows the importance of treating very early chronologies with caution, especially when radiocarbon dating approaches the limits of reliable calibration. In such cases, the study argues, archaeology, dating methods, and genetics must be considered together.
Beyond its genetic importance, the discovery reinforces the archaeological significance of Central-Eastern Europe in Neanderthal history. Rather than representing a peripheral zone, the region appears to have played an important role in population movements, biological links, and the circulation of technological traditions during the Middle Paleolithic.
Published on: 20-04-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: Phys.org
