Ancient teeth suggest breeding between Neanderthals and modern humans

New analysis of 13 ancient teeth may have revealed a hybrid population made from both Neanderthals and modern humans, according to UCL archaeologists. First found in 1910 and 1911 in La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey, the teeth were recently re-examined when further excavations began at the site in 2019, led by Dr Matt Pope (UCL Institute of Archaeology). Research published in the Journal of Human Evolution, co-authored by Dr Pope with the Natural History Museum, Jersey Heritage, the University of Kent and others, shows that rather than belonging to one Neanderthal, the teeth came from two different ancient human individuals. Intriguingly, while all the teeth have clear Neanderthal characteristics, some of them lack certain expected features, and their shape is more typical of modern humans - Homo sapiens - suggesting dual ancestry. Dr Matt Pope, who is leading the Jersey Heritage funded excavations for UCL's Institute of Archaeology, said: "This work offers us a glimpse of a new and intriguing population of Neanderthal people and opens the door to a new phase of discovery at the site. "We will now work with Jersey Heritage to recover finds and fossils from La Cotte de St Brelade, undertake a programme analysis with our scientific colleagues, and put in place engineering to protect this very vulnerable site for the future. It will be a mammoth project and one to watch for those fascinated by our closest evolutionary relatives." Following the original discovery of the teeth, excavations at the same site continued until 1920 and recovered over 20,000 stone tools assigned to the Middle Palaeolithic, a technology associated with the Neanderthals in Europe.