Nestled in the foothills of southern Siberia’s Altai Mountains, Denisova Cave has yielded numerous artifacts, as well as fossils of many animals and at least two hominins: Neanderthals and Denisovans. The cave is the only place in the world known to have remains of the Denisovans, who, like Neanderthals, were our close evolutionary cousins.
The site is one of the most significant for understanding human evolution, but study of it has been hampered by difficulty dating the finds. Today, a pair of papers reveal new Denisovan fossils, scores of new dates and a refined timeline for a hominin presence at the cave: important steps in untangling the complicated role it has played in the human story.
Known for decades as an important paleoanthropological site, Denisova Cave revealed its greatest treasure little more than a decade ago: fragmentary remains of a previously unknown close evolutionary relative, the Denisovans. Despite the limited remains found, researchers were able to extract ancient DNA (aDNA) and establish that the Denisovans were most closely related to Neanderthals.
The aDNA studies from cave’s hominins, both Denisovan and Neanderthal, helped confirm that both populations have, at various times, interbred with Homo sapiensand each other. In 2018, additional partial remains from the cave turned out to be from the first known Neanderthal-Denisovan hybrid individual.
