Lost Home of Neanderthals Found on British Island, Archaeologists Say

Archaeologists have now found new evidence on Neanderthals at Jersey's south eastern coastline. Analysis of the sediments at the site shows that Homo sapiens might have replaced Neanderthals later than previously assumed.

The site was believed to be lost during excavation over a century ago. The latest finding has provided scientists with invaluable information about Neanderthals' living conditions. The site, according to archaeologists, contains sediments dating back to the last ice-age and has records of climate change of about 250,000 years.

Researchers were investigating a portion of Cotte de St Brelade cave on the coastline when they stumbled upon the lost treasure. The cave located on Channel Island of Jersey, is an iconic site, providing researchers clues about Neanderthal behavior. Previous excavations at the cave showed that Neanderthals existed even after the arrival of Homo sapiens.

Neanderthals diverged from the primate line that gave rise to modern humans about 400,000 years. This group then moved to Eurasia and completely disappeared from the world about 30,000 years back.

Other studies have shown that Neanderthals might have lived near the Arctic Circle around 31,000 to 34,000 years ago.

Neanderthals are looked down upon as a kind of subhuman species. However, related research has shown that the species was intelligent and even capable of creating highly functional tools to adapt to new ecological zones.

The latest site has provided researchers with more Neanderthal tools than all the British Isles put together. Also, the place contains the only known remains of Neanderthals in West Europe.

"In terms of the volume of sediment, archaeological richness and depth of time, there is nothing else like it known in the British Isles. Given that we thought these deposits had been removed entirely by previous researchers, finding that so much still remains is as exciting as discovering a new site," sayid Dr Matt Pope of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, lead researcher.

The study team estimated the age of the sediments found at the site using Optically Stimulated Luminesce that measures the last time the particles were exposed to sunlight. Their analysis showed that the sediments are somewhere between 100,000 and 47,000 years old. Based on the latest data, researchers argue that the Neanderthal teeth discovered in 1910 were younger than previously thought and might have belonged to a Neanderthal living in Western Europe.

Archaeologists are hopeful that the collection of ancient bones, tools and sediments will improve understanding our extinct relatives.

"We were sure from the outset that the deposits held some archaeological potential, but these dates indicate we have uncovered something exceptional," Pope said in a news release. "We have a sequence of deposits which span the last 120,000 years still preserved at the site. Crucially, this covers the period in which Neanderthal populations apparently went 'extinct'."

The study was funded by the National Environment Research Council and is published in the Journal of Quaternary Science.