Early modern human settlement of Europe north of the Alps occurred 43,500 years ago in a cold steppe-type environment

TLDR

Modern humans dispersed into Europe and replaced Neanderthals at least 40,000 years ago, but the precise timing and climatic context of this dispersal remain debated. The study aims to combine paleoenvironmental and archaeological fieldwork at Willendorf II, Austria, to clarify the timing and climate of early modern human settlement. The project integrates paleoenvironmental analyses with archaeological excavation to reconstruct the environmental context of the site. The project concluded that modern humans producing Aurignacian stone tools occupied Central Europe about 43,500 years ago in a medium‑cold steppe environment with some boreal trees along valleys, representing the oldest well‑documented occurrence of behaviorally modern humans in Europe and showing contemporaneity with Neanderthals elsewhere.

Abstract

Significance Modern humans dispersed into Europe and replaced Neanderthals at least 40,000 years ago. However, the precise timing and climatic context of this dispersal are heavily debated. Therefore, a new project combining paleoenvironmental and archaeological fieldwork has been undertaken at Willendorf II (Austria), a key site for this time period. This project has concluded that modern humans producing Aurignacian stone tools occupied Central Europe about 43,500 years ago in a medium-cold steppe environment with some boreal trees along valleys. This discovery represents the oldest well-documented occurrence of behaviorally modern humans in Europe and demonstrates contemporaneity with Neanderthals in other parts of Europe, showing that behaviorally modern humans and Neanderthals shared this region longer than previously thought.