Archaeologists have made an important discovery in an area of Tajikistan, where they identified a stone shelter along a stream that may have served as a migration site for Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans for about 130,000 years.
This discovery provides new insights into human movements in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) of Central Asia during the Stone Age,
Although this region remains largely unexplored, researchers suggest that it was an important migration route for human species such as Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans, who may have coexisted in this area.
Yossi Zaidner, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that the purpose of the research is to understand who the people were who lived in Central Asia and what interactions existed between them, notes Noi.md with reference to .
To investigate this topic, Zaidner and his team surveyed Stone Age sites along the Zeravshan River, a major watercourse in Central Asia. Excavations uncovered two sites with multiple layers of occupation, indicating that different human groups used these sites at distinct times.
These finds date between 150,000 and 20,000 years ago, providing a valuable window into the life and migration of these ancient human populations.
Although many aspects of the interactions between various human species during the Middle Paleolithic period (between 300,000 and 30,000 years ago) remain unknown, this archaeological site provides a rare opportunity to study how modern humans may have interacted with their close relatives.
