An international study led by researchers from Tel Aviv University and the French National Centre for Scientific Research has uncovered groundbreaking evidence that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interbred much earlier than previously believed, with the first known biological and social relations occurring in the Land of Israel.
The key discovery is the skeleton of a five-year-old child, found nearly 90 years ago in the Skhul Cave on Mount Carmel, Israel. Dating back approximately 140,000 years, this fossil is the earliest in the world to display morphological features of both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens—groups once considered distinct species. The study, led by Prof. Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University’s Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and Anne Dambricourt-Malassé of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, was published in the journal l'Anthropologie.
“Genetic studies over the past decade have shown that these two groups exchanged genes,” explains Prof. Hershkovitz. “Even today, 40,000 years after the last Neanderthals disappeared, part of our genome—2 to 6 percent—is of Neanderthal origin. But these gene exchanges were thought to have taken place much later, between 60,000 to 40,000 years ago. Here, we are dealing with a human fossil that is 140,000 years old.”
Analysis of the child’s skeleton reveals a mix of traits: the overall skull shape, particularly the curvature of the skull vault, resembles Homo sapiens, while the intracranial blood supply system, lower jaw, and inner ear structure are typical of Neanderthals.
This discovery builds on a 2021 study in Science, where Prof. Hershkovitz and colleagues showed that early Neanderthals—dubbed “Nesher Ramla Homo”—lived in the Land of Israel as early as 400,000 years ago. These Neanderthals encountered Homo sapiens groups that began leaving Africa around 200,000 years ago, and the new findings confirm they interbred. The Skhul Cave child is the earliest fossil evidence of such long-term social and biological ties, with local Neanderthals eventually being absorbed into Homo sapiens populations—similar to later European Neanderthals.
To reach their conclusions, researchers used advanced techniques: micro-CT scans of the skull and jaw at Tel Aviv University’s Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute created detailed 3D models, enabling complex morphological analysis (including of hidden structures like the inner ear). They also reconstructed the 3D structure of blood vessels surrounding the brain.
Notably, prior evidence of interbreeding, such as the 28,000-year-old “Lapedo Valley Child” found in Portugal, is over 100,000 years younger than the Skhul child. Traditionally, fossils from Skhul Cave and nearby Qafzeh Cave were attributed to early Homo sapiens, but this study reveals at least some Skhul fossils resulted from ongoing genetic input from local, older Neanderthal populations.
This historic discovery reshapes understanding of human evolution, proving that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interacted and interbred far earlier and more extensively than once thought.