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A few fragmentary bones thought to be the remains of Neanderthals actually belonged to medieval Italians , new research finds .
The subject is a reanalysis of a tooth , which was found in in a cave in northeasterly Italy along with a finger osseous tissue and another tooth . primitively , researchers identified these scraps as belonging toNeanderthals , the former first cousin of humans who went extinct about 30,000 twelvemonth ago . alternatively , the Modern study reveals the osseous tissue to belong to modernHomo sapiens .
A tooth thought to belong to a Neanderthal is actually from a medieval human.
There ’s no telling whom the original proprietor of the teeth and finger was , but the cave where they were discovered was both a hermitage , or dwelling place , and the site of a grisly mediaeval massacre . [ 8 Disturbing Archaeological Discoveries ]
Mystery find
The teeth and the bone were found in the San Bernardino Cave in the 1980s in a rock level dating back to Neanderthal time , approximately 28,000 to 59,000 years ago . But localization alone is not enough for a firm identification , enjoin field investigator Stefano Benazzi , a physical anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany . An psychoanalysis of the bones themselves is necessary , too . Earlier , researchers had transmit this analysis , but they lack the high - tech tools available to scientists today .
The location and images of San Bernardino Cave in Italy.
" The taxonomical discrimination of the species was base mainly on the layer the human fogey was found instead of the morphological features , " or build and size of the bones , Benazzi say LiveScience .
The size and contour of the teeth were logical with belonging toHomo sapiens , but their rock bed suggestedNeanderthal . A look back at the excavation reveal murky geology — at some point in the belated middle geezerhood , a rampart to seal off the cave had been work up , potentially stir up the rock level and preventing the researchers from using the layers as proof of age .
Human or Neanderthal ?
Benazzi and his confrere contract a direct approach , analyzing one of the teeth , a grinder , found in thecave . ( These analyses require the destruction of part of the bone , which is why they are often not done . )
First , they took a look at the shape of the tooth using micro - computed imaging ( CT ) , a scanning method acting that allows researchers to produce virtual 3D model of an target . They also sampled for mitochondrial DNA , a type of DNA pass down the paternal line . Next , they used carbon 14 date to determine the age of the tooth . Finally , they analyzed molecular shadow in the tooth to influence the somebody ’s diet . [ In photo : New Human Ancestor Possibly Unearthed in Spanish Cave ]
The results converged on one answer : This tooth was not neandertal . The shape was somewhat ambiguous , but suggestive of aHomo sapiens ' tooth . The DNA looked far more human than Neanderthal . The escort sealed the mass : alternatively of being at least 30,000 years old , the tooth dated back to between A.D. 1420 and 1480 .
The diet analysis bring out that the ratio of plants and meat eaten by the tooth ’s owner was logical with the dieting of amedieval Italianwho ate millet , a plant not even enclose to Italy until 5,000 eld ago or afterward .
" It ’s neat that technology has advanced so far now that we can reevaluate these onetime breakthrough , " said Kristina Killgrove , a biological anthropologist at the University of West Florida who was not involve in the study . " Now we can use carbon-14 dating and ancient DNA and compare it to theNeanderthal genome . "
Though the researchers did not chemically analyze the other tooth and digit off-white , their sizes and airless association with the molar suggest that they , too , are gothic in ancestry .
A grisly story
The discovery of medieval bones highlights thecave ’s long history . It process as a hermitage in the 1400s , and was maybe dwell by San Bernardino of Siena , a priest and missionary who spent time in the area . In 1510 , during the War of the League of Cambrai , the cave was a site of a massacre of local people by mercenary military personnel . Some died of suffocation in the cave itself , where they had fly to assay recourse .
Whether the bones belong to one of those dupe or to another medieval Italian is unknown , but the mental synthesis of a wall over the cave lip in the later Middle Ages likely pushed the bones into the deeper stone layers , where they were mistaken for Neanderthal remains . After themassacre , the site became a church .
The re - categorization of the ivory also shows that anthropology should not focus only on novel finds , but also needs to reckon back at old discovery , Benazzi say .
" We show that a lot of fossil discovered in the past times , San Bernardino as an case , require to be reassessed , " he said . That work is ongoing , he added , and his research group is figure out to analyze other remains found in other cave .
The findings will be report in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Human Evolution .
