Scientists have recovered the oldest known DNA from modern humans in Europe, revealing a lost branch of the human family tree that arrived over 45,000 years ago, mixed with Neanderthals, and left no living descendants.
The study, published Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Nature, examined ancient genomes from 13 bone fragments found in a cave beneath a medieval castle in Ranis, Germany. The remains belonged to six individuals, including a mother, her daughter, and distant cousins. These early modern humans were part of a pioneer population that eventually disappeared, making them a “lost branch” of the human family tree.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the study, which also included contributions from the University of Reading and the University of Bristol. The findings provide insight into how early humans lived, traveled, and interacted with Neanderthals.
Neanderthal ancestry and interaction
The DNA analysis revealed that these individuals carried about 2.9% Neanderthal ancestry — similar to modern humans today. Their ancestors likely interbred with Neanderthals around 1,500 years, or 80 generations, before the Ranis group lived.
This mixing likely occurred as early Homo sapiens left Africa and encountered Neanderthals who had lived in Eurasia for thousands of years.
A concurrent study published in Science supports this timeline, showing that most Neanderthal ancestry in modern humans came from interactions between 50,500 and 43,500 years ago. During these years, early humans and Neanderthals frequently mixed, with the height of interbreeding occurring around 47,000 years ago.
Dr. Geoff Smith, a zooarchaeologist, studied over 1,000 bone fragments found at Ranis. Dr. Karen Ruebens, who identified the bones using ancient protein analysis, described the site as a treasure trove.
“It is astounding how these small bone fragments provide such a wealth of data.” Ruebens said. “Exceptional DNA preservation gave a unique glimpse into past family groups and their wider connections across Ice Age Europe.”
A pioneer population that vanished
These early humans numbered only a few hundred and had dark skin, dark hair, and brown eyes, reflecting their recent migration from Africa.
Despite surviving in extreme cold conditions and adapting through Neanderthal gene variants related to the immune system, skin pigmentation, and metabolism, their lineage did not continue. Like the Neanderthals, they eventually disappeared from the archaeological record.
Dr. Helen Fewlass, an archaeological scientist from the University of Bristol, led the radiocarbon dating of the remains. “These are the earliest directly dated remains of our species we have yet found in Europe and it’s so exciting to find multiple individuals from one group,” Fewlass said.
“The new DNA results give us incredible insights into the lives of this pioneering group.”
A broader human story
DNA from a woman’s skull found in Zlatý kůň, Czechia — 230 kilometers (143 miles) away — linked her to the same extended family as the Ranis group. This discovery highlights how small groups of early humans moved and connected across regions.
However, their extinction, along with other early human lineages around 40,000 years ago, suggests that survival was not guaranteed, even for Homo sapiens.
“It’s kind of interesting to see that human story is not always a story of success,” said Johannes Krause, a senior author of the Nature study and director at the Max Planck Institute.
Neanderthal genes helped early humans
The research not only helps refine the timeline of human migration and interaction with Neanderthals but also shows how Neanderthal genes helped early humans adapt to their new environments. Yet, some genetic combinations were harmful.
Scientists found that certain regions of the human genome, especially the X chromosome, are devoid of Neanderthal DNA, likely due to fertility issues or diseases that affect survival.
Dr. Priya Moorjani, a researcher from the University of California, Berkeley, involved in the Science study, noted the significance of these findings. “We were far more similar than we were different,” she said.
“The differences that we imagined between these groups to be very big, actually, were very small, genetically speaking. They seem to have mixed with each other for a long period of time and were living side by side for a long period of time.”
This research provides a clearer picture of how early humans adapted, traveled, and faced challenges — a story of survival, connection, and, ultimately, extinction for some branches of the human family tree.