When did modern humans arrive in Europe?

Two baby teeth found in the Grotta del Cavallo, Apulia, Italy and a jawbone fragment found in Kents Cavern, Devon, England pushed back the dates of arrival of modern humans in Europe by 5,000 years. The teeth and jawbone were dated to be 45,000 and 41,000 years old respectively. Previously, it was thought that Homo sapiens arrived in Europe around 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Early Eurasian Homo sapiens fossils have been found in Israel and Greece, dated to 194,000–177,000 and 210,000 years old respectively. These fossils seem to represent failed dispersal attempts by early Homo sapiens, who were likely replaced by local Neanderthal populations.

The migrating modern human populations are known to have interbred with local varieties of archaic humans, so that contemporary human populations are descended in small part (below 10% contribution) from regional varieties of archaic humans.

 

Picture Credit : Google