Recent discoveries by archaeologists in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, home to significant Middle to Late Paleolithic sites like Starosele, include a 5-centimeter-long bone fragment from a Neanderthal man, dating between 46,000 and 44,000 years ago. Genetic analysis shows this individual to be closely related to Altai Neanderthals through mitochondrial DNA, indicating that Neanderthal populations traveled great distances across Eurasia. Under favorable climatic conditions, these migrations likely involved the spread of the Micocchia stone tool industry, highlighting cultural continuity and regional adaptability during the Late Pleistocene.

Crimea is rich in well-preserved layered Paleolithic sites, many reflecting the biocultural and human occupation transition that occurred approximately 47,000 to 42,000 years ago.

According to earlier radiocarbon dating studies, the peninsula has been recognized as a refuge for late Neanderthals who survived just before their extinction.

Starosele, a rock shelter located in a steep valley, features four distinct cultural layers and has been researched since 1952.

“The archaeological layers of this site are rich in cultural artifacts,” stated Emily Piggott, a PhD student at the University of Vienna, along with her colleagues.

“Levels 1, 2, and 4 are linked to stone tools from the Crimean Mikokian stone tool industry, associated with Neanderthals.”

This study aimed to identify potential human remains from the thousands of fragmented bones excavated from the Starosele site.

From the 150 bone fragments analyzed, 97.3% contained sufficient collagen for taxonomic identification.

Approximately 93% of the remains belonged to horses and deer, with fewer found from mammoths and wolves, indicating that Paleolithic humans in Crimea heavily relied on horse hunting.

Notably, one bone fragment, measuring 49.8 mm in length and 18.8 mm in width, was classified as hominin.

Radiocarbon dating indicated an age range of 46,000 to 45,000 years, coinciding with the transitional period before the extinction of Neanderthals and the emergence of Homo sapiens in Western Europe.

“Particularly the remains of humans before Starosele are from a much later era of Homo sapiens,” Piggott remarked.

“Upon receiving the radiocarbon results, we realized we had uncovered a true Paleolithic hominin.”

“Neanderthals went extinct across Eurasia, replaced by Homo sapiens, yet genetic information about these earlier human populations is scarce.”

Researchers then sequenced the mitochondrial genome from this bone, confirming the individual was part of the Neanderthal lineage.

The mitogenome of this individual aligns with other Neanderthal mitogenomes previously documented in the Altai region of Siberia.

“Surprisingly, this individual shared the closest genetic ties with Neanderthals from Altai, over 3,000 kilometers to the east, as well as with Neanderthals that once roamed areas of Europe such as Croatia,” highlighted the researchers.

“This finding reaffirms previous studies suggesting that Neanderthals migrated extensively across Eurasia, traversing from central Europe to central Eurasia during the late Pleistocene.”

“This research highlights Crimea as a crucial junction in the Neanderthal migration routes.”

The findings of this study will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Emily M. Piggott et al. 2025. A new late Neanderthal from Crimea reveals long-distance connections across Eurasia. PNAS 122 (45): e2518974122; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2518974122