A new study suggests that humans and Neanderthals lived together in Israel’s Negev Desert around 50,000 years ago.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, notes that Boker Tachtit is the first known migration point from Africa to the region’s first humans, so the two likely coexisted for some time.

Researchers were able to date that evolution at Boker Tachit began around 50,000 years ago and ended around 44,000 years ago using updated radiocarbon dating.

This allowed for a “certain overlap” between the transition which occurred in Boker Tachtit and that which occurred in the region which is today Lebanon and today’s Turkey between 49,000 and 46,000. years.

“This shows that the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens of the Negev coexisted and most likely interacted with each other, resulting not only in genetic crosses, as the theory of ‘recent African origin’ postulates, but also cultural exchanges.” , two of the study’s authors, Elisabetta Boaretto and Omry Barzilai, said in a declaration.

Homo sapiens is widely believed to have originated in Africa around 270,000 years ago. From there they took routes to Eurasia, passing through the Levant and subsequently, Boker Tachtit, or they went to remote areas of Asia and beyond.

Excavations in the area were carried out by researchers from 2013 to 2015.

In addition to high-resolution radiocarbon dating, they optically stimulated grains of quartz sand at the Weizmann Institute and the Max Planck Institute, respectively.

Archaeologist Anthony Marks began examining Boker Tachtit in the 1980s, determining the area as a transition from the Middle Paleolithic to the Upper Paleolithic.

The star represents the location of Boker Tachtit in the Negev Desert in Israel

However, Marks based it on a single radiocarbon date, concluding that it was 47,000 years ago.

Since then, some radiocarbon dating has indicated that this happened 34,000 years ago, setting the original transition in motion.

“If we are to follow this timeline, then the transition period could have lasted over 10,000 years, and yet artefacts unearthed at sites in northern Israel, Lebanon and even Turkey suggest that the transition took place. is produced much faster, ”explains Boaretto.

Neanderthals became extinct between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago, as modern humans began to settle throughout Europe and Asia.

“Marks only managed to date a few specimens of Boker Tachtit, due to limitations in radiocarbon dating at the time, and the range of his proposed dates is inconsistent with evidence collected at other sites. of excavations – old and new – in the area, “Boaretto added.

“Radiocarbon dating, the method he used in his study, has evolved tremendously since his time.”

The new dating places Boker Tachtit’s earliest era in the Middle Paleolithic era, when Neanderthals were still around.

Homo sapiens is widely believed to have originated in Africa around 270,000 years ago.

From there they took routes to Eurasia, passing through the Levant and subsequently, Boker Tachtit, or they went to remote areas of Asia and beyond.

Neanderthals became extinct between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago, as modern humans began to settle throughout Europe and Asia.

A close relative of modern humans, Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago

The Neanderthals were a close human ancestor who mysteriously became extinct about 40,000 years ago.

The species lived in Africa with the first humans for millennia before settling in Europe around 300,000 years ago.

They were then joined by humans, who entered Eurasia around 48,000 years ago.

The Neanderthals were a cousin species of man but not a direct ancestor – the two species separated from a common ancestor – who perished about 50,000 years ago. In the photo, an exhibition from the Neanderthal museum

They were the original “cavemen”, historically considered stupid and brutal compared to modern humans.

In recent years however, and especially in the last decade, it has become increasingly evident that we are short-selling Neanderthals.

A growing body of evidence points to a more sophisticated and versatile type of “cave man” than anyone thought possible.

It now seems likely that Neanderthals had recounted, buried their dead, painted, and even crossed paths with humans.

They used body art like pigments and beads, and they were the very first artists, with Neanderthal rock art (and symbolism) in Spain apparently predating early modern human art by some 20,000 years.

They are believed to have hunted on land and fished. However, they became extinct around 40,000 years ago following the success of Homo sapiens in Europe.