200,000 years old
New knowledge about our mysterious ancestors: So far, oldest bones discovered by Denisovans
Small but significant: remains of the Denisovans’ bones
© Katerina Douka
So far, there is little evidence of the Denisovans – a prehistoric species that once lived in Asia and Russia and was closely related to us. Now archaeologists have made exciting new discoveries.
They were discovered less than ten years ago, and almost by accident: the Denisova people, a species of prehistoric man that became extinct about 60,000 years ago and whose first traces were found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia. Only when it was possible to extract DNA from the few bones excavated there did the researchers realize: this was not one homo sapiens, no Neanderthals and no other known prehistoric man. A sensation. Much has been learned about the Denisovans since then – but they are still our most mysterious relatives.
While 100,000 to 200,000 years ago Europe was mainly populated by the Neanderthals, the Denisovans probably lived mostly in Asia. But both types of people met in Russia and Eastern Europe, and some of them lived in the same settlements. Modern man also met the Denisova people when he later conquered the rest of the world from Africa – and apparently romantic encounters also took place. Tiny traces of Denisova DNA can be found in the DNA of many people today, especially in Asia.
Denisova people: Still a mystery
But there are still very few concrete statements that can be made about the Denisovans. What did they look like? There are only guesses as to this. How did they live? Hardly anything can be said about this. This is because there are still hardly any extensive traces of the mysterious prehistoric man. Until recently, all researchers had inside was just a handful of small bones or bone fragments – just six pieces.
But now archaeologists set about digging again at the very first site in the Denisova Cave in Siberia. “We specifically selected areas where no previously alleged human fossils were found and this strategy worked,” said Dr. Katerina Douka from the University of Vienna. “We were thrilled when we found, among other things, three more Denisovan bones in the oldest layers of the Denisova Cave!” The fossilized bones are around 200,000 years old, making them the oldest traces of the human species.
New finds reveal more about the human species
For the first time there were also indications of the lifestyle of the Denisova people. Because the bone finds were surrounded by stone tools and remains of hunting booty. Apparently the enigmatic prehistoric humans ate gazelles, red deer, woolly rhinos, wild horses and bison. They made tools for hunting and cutting meat. “We can conclude from this that the Denisovans were well adapted to their environment and made use of all the resources that were available to them,” says Katerina Douka. She hopes that much more information about our mysterious ancestors will come to light in the future.
Sources: “Livescience”, “Nature”