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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Ancient DNA reveals traces of elusive first humans in Europe

Europe’s earliest Homo sapiens seemed to have vanished without a genetic legacy — but genomic studies now show otherwise.
Resin replica of Venus of Brassempouy, a Stone Age figurine.

A replica of the Venus of Brassempouy, a mammoth-tusk carving made by people of the Gravettian culture in northern Europe some 25,000 years ago or more. Credit: Philippe Psaila/SPL

Ancient human genomes from the Crimean Peninsula fill in a missing link between Europe’s first Homo sapiens and later groups in the continent1.

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Nature 623, 11 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03278-x

Clarification: this story has been updated to reflect that the author is at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

References

  1. Bennett, E. A. et al. Nature Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02211-9 (2023).

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