Topix Underground

"Fossils found in The Bacho Kiro cave, пещера „Бачо Киро“ (situated 5 km west of the town Dryanovo, only 300 m away from the Dryanovo Monastery. It is embedded in the canyons of the Andaka and Dryanovo River in Gabrovo region) show that Homo sapiens may have been living in Europe 46,000 years ago.

This indicates a longer overlap with Neanderthals and suggests major cultural links between the two."

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany have analyzed 4 bone fragments and a tooth discovered in the cave. Radiocarbon dating and DNA tests show that the fossils date back to 46,790 to 42,810 years old.

They lay buried in a layer of rich, dark sediment, mingled with stone blades, bone leatherworking tools, ivory beads and pendants, and the butchered bones of red deer and bison. Most of the stone tools were long flint blades and points made with a technique called retouching.

The finds from a cave in Bacho Kiro, date back to the “period when Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe from the Middle East and lived alongside Neanderthals, which lasted between 5,000 and 10,000 years,”