Ancient DNA reveals how far Neanderthals roamed across Eurasia

A small bone from Starosele Cave in Crimea has changed how we see Neanderthals. With a length of about two inches (five centimeters), the bone held DNA from a Neanderthal who lived over 45,000 years ago.

Researchers from the University of Vienna discovered the bone, called “Star 1,” using new molecular tools. The analysis revealed that Neanderthals traveled farther across Eurasia than anyone had imagined.

Neanderthal bone changed everything

Starosele has been studied for decades. Earlier digs uncovered only post-medieval burials, so few expected much else. This changed when scientists reexamined over 150 unidentifiable bones.

Using zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS), the experts screened each one for species. Almost all belonged to animals – mostly horses and deer. But one bone didn’t fit. Its collagen matched the human family.

The team scanned the fragment with micro-CT imaging. The scans showed it was part of a thigh bone from an adolescent. Radiocarbon dating confirmed its age between 46,000 and 44,000 years.

“This was an extremely exciting discovery, especially since previous human remains at Starosele were thought to be Homo sapiens from much later periods,” said lead author Emily Pigott.

“When the radiocarbon results came back, we knew we had found a truly Paleolithic human. It was an unforgettable moment – and it happened to be only the 46th bone I analyzed with ZooMS.”

Ancient DNA spans continents

Genetic tests showed that Star 1 belonged to a Neanderthal. What shocked the researchers was where its closest relatives came from. The DNA matched Neanderthals from Siberia’s Altai region – about 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) away.

That single link erased the idea that Neanderthals stayed in one place. They crossed the Eurasian steppes long before modern humans appeared there.

The stone tools at Starosele told a similar story. The cave’s artifacts belong to the Crimean Micoquian tradition, known for bifacial tools shaped with precision. The same tool designs appear in Altai caves like Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov.

Shared toolmaking styles across such distances hint at connected populations, or at least common cultural roots.

Life in the harsh Ice Age

Starosele was no gentle refuge. The faunal remains paint a picture of endurance. Horses made up most of the animal bones, suggesting heavy reliance on horse hunting.

Deer, mammoth, and bison also filled the landscape. Cut marks on bones showed butchery and survival under harsh conditions.

ZooMS analysis confirmed what earlier archaeological work suspected – Crimea’s Paleolithic people lived off the open grasslands. The method worked even when bones were too broken to identify by sight.

Of the 150 samples tested, 97 percent produced clear results. That success gave researchers a detailed view of the region’s ecosystem and how humans fit into it.

Warm ages and Neanderthal pathways

Migration doesn’t happen by chance. Elke Zeller and Axel Timmermann modeled ancient climates to see what conditions allowed such movement.

The results showed two warm, wet phases – around 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. During those times, open grasslands stretched from Europe to Central Asia. A corridor near latitude 55° north linked Crimea to Siberia.

This natural pathway could have guided herds of horses and, in turn, the Neanderthals who hunted them.

“Our work demonstrates that by combining techniques such as ZooMS, radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA analysis, even the smallest bone fragments can yield profound information about our evolutionary past,” said senior author Tom Higham.

Neanderthal bone connects regions

The evidence from Starosele fits into a larger pattern. Genetic and archaeological clues suggest multiple waves of Neanderthal dispersal across Eurasia – perhaps at 170,000, 120,000, and 60,000 years ago.

Each wave aligned with periods of milder climate. Sites from Crimea to the Altai reveal similar hunting patterns and tool industries.

These connections point to groups that weren’t isolated but part of a broader network moving with the environment.

Neanderthal bone tells a story

“Star 1” might be tiny, but it changed the scale of the Neanderthal map. That fragment connects Siberia, Europe, and the Black Sea through one individual’s ancestry.

It also proves that Neanderthals adapted to changing worlds and carried their knowledge wherever they went.

The discovery turns a forgotten bone into a reminder of how movement shaped early human history – and how much of that story still hides beneath the ground.

Crimea at the crossroads

What makes this find so remarkable is its scale. One bone reshaped how scientists understand migration, culture, and connection in deep time.

Before this discovery, the Crimean Peninsula was often viewed as a remote outpost of late Neanderthal life – a refuge for their final populations.

The genetic link between Starosele and the Altai region broke that assumption. It placed Crimea not at the edge of Neanderthal existence but at the center of a wide network that stretched across Eurasia.

The same corridors that once carried horses, bison, and mammoths also carried families, tools, and ideas. Neanderthals were part of that rhythm.

They survived climate swings, crossed open grasslands, and reused the same cultural patterns wherever they settled. The fact that such continuity appears across 1,860 miles shows how organized and adaptable they were.

The story of Star 1 reminds us that ancient lives were not static. Movement wasn’t the exception – it was the rule.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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