Did the Neanderthals cross the Cro-Magnons?

1999/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia

A skeleton discovered in Portugal six years ago has characteristics of both Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal, and a group of American anthropologists believe it could be a hybrid man due to the crossing of Cro-Magnona and Neanderthal.

The skeleton is about 24,500 years old and belongs to a child of about 4 years. After analyzing the skeleton characteristics of this child, scientists have not been able to classify it within a certain species due to its confused characteristics. Finally, they realize that it is not of any kind, but that it is a mixture between the two.

According to the most accepted theory of anthropology, Cro-Magnona developed in Africa and upon arriving in Europe expelled Neanderthal, without having any interaction with him. However, the skeleton discovered in Portugal offers a demonstration contrary to this theory, so you can modify the general theory about the origin of the Cro-Magnon. According to this theory, Cro-Magnon developed in Africa and 100,000 years ago spread to other continents. This theory is known as “Out of Africa”. The skeleton is located in the Lapedo Valley, north of Lisbon.