A SKULL unearthed nearly a century ago is now believed to have belonged to a ‘half human, half neanderthal girl’, according to a new study.
The girl, who experts say was just three-years-old at the time, died roughly 140,000 years ago, towards the end of the Middle Pleistocene era.
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Her remains were found when archaeologists unearthed several human skeletons, including seven adults and three children, while excavating Skuhl Cave just south of Haifa, Israel in 1929.
The girl’s full skeleton is largely complete, with the left side better preserved.
Most of the remains were classified as early Homo sapiens; however, there remained some debate due to an unusual mix of skeletal features.
New analysis involving CT scanning suggests the remains belong to a hybrid species of ancient human, according the paper published in the journal L’Anthropologie.
Focusing on the neurocranium – the part of the skull that cups the brain, the mandible – which forms the lower part of the jaw and mouth, as well as teeth the team found characteristics of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthal.
Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had a period of about 5,400 years where both species roamed Earth at the same time.
The relationship between the two species is not wholly understood.
But they traded genes frequently during the period when their populations overlapped.
The baby girl may have been a result of this interbreeding, according to the study.
Co-author Anne Dambricourt Malassé of the Institute of Human Paleontology in Paris said that she once thought such a hybridisation was not possible.
The results of their analysis, however, demonstrate that it is possible, although the child in question died very young.
“This study is maybe the first that has put the Skhul child’s remains on a scientific basis,” John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who wasn’t involved with the study, told New Scientist.
“The old reconstruction and associated work, literally set in plaster, did not really enable anyone to compare this child with a broader array of recent children to understand its biology.”
Although, Hawks cautioned that a DNA sample would be needed to officially confirm the study’s findings.
“Human populations are variable,” he added.
“And there can be a lot of variability in their appearance and physical form even without mixing with ancient groups like Neanderthals.”
It wouldn’t be the first time a possible ancient human hybrid had been discovered.
In 2018, scientists analysed a bone fragment excavated from a cave site in Russia and concluded it belonged to a young girl of about 13 who was the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.
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