Researchers have analyzed mitochondrial DNA from eight Neanderthal teeth found in Stajnia Cave in Poland, reconstructing the genetic profile of a small group that lived there around 100,000 years ago. The study, published in Current Biology, marks the first such multi-individual genetic picture from a single site north of the Carpathians. The findings show genetic links to Neanderthals across Europe and the Caucasus.
An international team extracted ancient mitochondrial DNA from eight Neanderthal teeth discovered in Stajnia Cave, located in southern Poland north of the Carpathians. The individuals lived during the same period around 100,000 years ago, allowing scientists to build a genetic profile of at least seven Neanderthals from one location and era. Andrea Picin, professor at the University of Bologna and study coordinator, described it as an extraordinary result. He noted that previous Neanderthal genetic data often came from single fossils or scattered remains, unlike this coherent picture from Stajnia Cave. Wioletta Nowaczewska of the University of Wrocław and Adam Nadachowski of the Polish Academy of Sciences called the achievement important for Polish research and European Neanderthal studies, exceeding expectations for the site. The mitochondrial DNA belongs to a genetic branch shared with Neanderthals from the Iberian Peninsula, southeastern France, and the northern Caucasus, indicating it was once widespread before being replaced. Mateja Hajdinjak of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology highlighted that two juvenile teeth and one adult tooth share the same DNA, suggesting close relations. Sahra Talamo, also from the University of Bologna, urged caution with oldest chronologies, comparing it to the Thorin fossil from France dated around 50,000 years ago with similar genetics. The results underscore Central-Eastern Europe's central role in Neanderthal population movements and interactions during the Middle Paleolithic.