Overview
- A peer‑reviewed paper published Tuesday in PNAS presents stratified bones and artifacts showing Neanderthals occupied Üçağızlı II about 77,000–59,000 years ago and Homo sapiens about 59,000–47,000 years ago.
- Both occupation layers contain the same Mousterian flint technology and the same hunting patterns targeting wild goats, deer and boar, indicating continuity in toolmaking and subsistence.
- Archaeologists recovered 29 small Columbella rustica shells in both sets of layers, several perforated and one heat‑discolored, consistent with deliberate transport and likely use as personal ornaments.
- The site was excavated systematically from 2020 by an international team led from Kyoto University with Gaziantep University, and researchers used dental internal structure analysis and OSL sediment dating to assign species and dates.
- Authors say the findings raise the possibility of cultural sharing that bears on how early non‑African lineages formed, but they stress direct interpersonal contact is not proven and call for more sites and data to test broader patterns.