University of Wollongong researchers have contributed to two new studies that shed light on the ancient mysteries of the Denisova Cave.
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The studies have uncovered when Neanderthals and their enigmatic cousins, the Denisovans – occupied Denisova Cave in Russia, the only site in the world known to have been occupied by both groups of hominins and by modern humans at various times.
For the first time, the studies put a timeline on when Denisovans and Neanderthals were present at the site and the environmental conditions they faced before going extinct.
Denisovans, who were only discovered recently, lived at the same time as Neanderthals and modern humans roamed the Earth, but were genetically different from both.
The findings, published in Nature today, are the result of many years of detailed investigation by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Russia, Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The new studies show that hominins occupied the site almost continuously through relatively warm and cold periods over the past 300,000 years, leaving behind stone tools and other artefacts in the cave deposits.
Fossils and DNA traces of Denisovans are found from at least 200,000 to 50,000 years ago, and those of Neanderthals between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago.
One of the studies, led by Professor Zenobia Jacobs, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow at UOW, involved optical dating of the cave sediments, most of which are too old for radiocarbon dating.