Oldest evidence found of hominids in Europe. They are almost 2 million years old

In Romania, a team of researchers found evidence that our ancestors were here at least 1.95 million years ago. They already hunted and used tools.

At the archaeological site of Grăunceanu, in Romania, a place that dates back to the early Pleistocene (geological epoch that occurred approximately between 2.6 million and 11.7 thousand years ago), a team and researchers have discovered the oldest evidence that there are records of the presence of hominids in Europe, at least 1.95 million years old

The discoveries, made through uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating, were described in a published in the journal Natureon January 20th.

And the hominids they were not alonethey even had a lot of diversity around them, points out: mammoths, equids, ruminants, rhinos, birds, primates (including a great ape) also populated the place.

The bones were very well preserved, and 85% of them were in the lowest phase of weathering.

Scientists have also discovered that our ancestors already hunted and used tools. This is because 1,189 bones present at the site have linear marks, which a set of qualitative and quantitative analyzes classified as made by non-natural agents.

A isotopic analysis of horse teeth was another innovation in this research, which allowed scientists to realize that the climate there was relatively temperate, with heavy seasonal precipitation, wet winters and dry summers, a climate that may have favored the arrival of hominids in Eurasia earlier than we thought.

Until now, the oldest evidence that existed of this presence had 1.8 million years and were discovered in Georgia.

Even though this new research does not directly contain hominin fossils, the data, the paper writes, “point to a widespread, though perhaps intermittent, presence of hominins across Eurasia.”

Thanks to the discoveries, there is now more path to understanding the adaptation strategies and migratory routes of the first humans.