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That ancestry is still written into our DNA<\/a>. If your family roots lie outside Africa, about 2\u20133% of your genes probably came from Neanderthals. The legacy of that ancient interaction lives on<\/a> in almost everyone alive today.<\/p>\n But until recently, scientists didn\u2019t know much about those early human groups who first set foot in Europe. A new study is now shedding light on their lives, their tools, and their surprising family connections.<\/p>\n Bones from a German cave<\/p>\n Deep in a German cave called Ranis, scientists unearthed a collection of tiny, fragile bones. <\/p>\n The bones, which date to between 42,000 and 49,000 years ago, came from at least six individuals \u2013 men, women, and even infants. Some were closely related \u2013 one pair was a mother and her daughter.<\/p>\n Across the border in Czechia, a skull was found at a site called Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148<\/a>. The skull came from a woman who lived around the same time as the people in Ranis. At first, the team didn\u2019t know if the two sites were connected.<\/p>\n After extracting DNA from these ancient remains, researchers made a startling discovery. The woman from Czechia and two individuals from Ranis were fifth- or sixth-degree relatives. <\/p>\n This is the level of connection you might share with a distant cousin. It meant these people were not isolated wanderers but part of a larger, extended community of early Europeans<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ranis cave is known for a particular style of ancient tools called LRJ tools, short for Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician<\/a>. <\/p>\n For years, archaeologists debated whether these finely made stone tools were crafted by Neanderthals or modern humans. Now there\u2019s a clear answer.<\/p>\n Because the tools and bones were found side by side, and the DNA shows the bones came from modern humans, it\u2019s now confirmed that early modern humans shaped these tools.<\/p>\n This also connects Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148 to the same culture. Even though her skull was found without tools nearby, her genetic link to the Ranis group suggests she likely used \u2013 or at least knew \u2013 LRJ tools as well.<\/p>\n The team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology<\/a> recovered the oldest high-quality modern human genomes ever sequenced. <\/p>\n One specimen from Ranis, nicknamed Ranis13, had DNA so well preserved that researchers could reconstruct his entire genome with incredible detail.<\/p>\n But what they found added a layer of mystery. These early Europeans, including Ranis13 and the woman from Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148, don\u2019t seem to have left any descendants in today\u2019s world. Their genetic line disappeared.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say they didn\u2019t matter. Their DNA<\/a> still carries traces of a much older encounter with Neanderthals. This likely happened once, between 45,000 and 49,000 years ago, before the group fully moved into Europe.<\/p>\n LRJ Group and Neanderthals<\/p>\n Other ancient humans found in Europe and Asia show signs of much more recent Neanderthal ancestry. <\/p>\n In some cases, Neanderthal ancestors were just 10 to 20 generations back. That\u2019s like having a great-great-great-grandparent who was Neanderthal.<\/p>\n But the Ranis and Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148 individuals<\/a> didn\u2019t show any signs of those recent mixes. Their Neanderthal DNA came from the same event that all non-African people share. No recent overlap. No second wave.<\/p>\n This difference suggests something curious: maybe this early group entered Europe a different way. Or maybe they simply didn\u2019t cross paths with many Neanderthals during their stay.<\/p>\n Looking at shared DNA chunks in the Ranis and Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148 genomes, scientists estimated the group\u2019s size. They think only a few hundred people made up this entire population<\/a>, spread across a broad area.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tiny number. It hints at how precarious life must have been at the edge of the Ice Age, in an unfamiliar land, with harsh winters and tough competition from Neanderthals who had called the region home for far longer.<\/p>\n What did these ancient cousins look like? <\/p>\n By examining specific genes tied to physical traits, the researchers found that they likely had dark skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. This matches what we\u2019d expect from people with recent African origins, which they certainly had.<\/p>\n They were among the first to leave Africa and step into Europe\u2019s frozen frontier. They may not have survived the long term, but they were part of the same species that would one day build cities, write symphonies, and send satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n Lessons from the LRJ Group<\/p>\n \u201cThese results provide us with a deeper understanding of the earliest pioneers that settled in Europe,\u201d said Johannes Krause, senior author of the study. <\/p>\n \u201cThey also indicate that any modern human remains found outside Africa that are older than 50,000 years could not have been part of the common non-African population that interbred with Neanderthals and is now found across much of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Their time was brief and their lineage didn\u2019t last \u2013 but the Ranis and Zlat\u00fd k\u016f\u0148 people left behind a story buried in bone and stone.<\/p>\n A story about movement, connection, and the unpredictability of survival. They didn\u2019t become our ancestors. But they were still a part of us.<\/p>\n The full study was published in the journal Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something unusual happened on the human family tree during the Last Ice Age, roughly 45,000 years ago. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-652078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115773467587407663","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Stone](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/oldest-human-genome_LRJ-tools_Ranis-Germany_Josephine-Schubert_1s.jpg\")
<\/a>Stone tools from the LRJ at Ranis. 1) partial bifacial blade point characteristic of the LRJ; 2) at Ranis the LRJ also contains finely made bifacial leaf points. Credit: Josephine Schubert. Click image to enlargeShort-lived family tree<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/oldest-human-genomes_lrj-group_family-illustration_Credit-Max-Planck_1s.webp.webp\")
<\/a>An illustration depicts an artist\u2019s illustration of ancient humans from Ranis, Germany and the Czech Republic traveling together 45,000 years ago. Credit: Tom Bj\u00f6rklund\/Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Click image to enlargeHow big was the LRJ group?<\/p>\n