World’s Oldest Evidence of Human–Neanderthal Interbreeding Unearthed in Israel

• Skhul Cave child fossil pushes back human-Neanderthal contact by nearly 100,000 years

New Delhi, August 2025: A quiet burial on Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean, has rewritten our understanding of human origins. The skeleton of a child, discovered in Skhul Cave nearly a century ago, has now been confirmed as the earliest known hybrid of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, dating back 140,000 years. This extraordinary revelation places the Levant at the heart of one of humanity’s oldest encounters, showing that our ancestors’ ties with Neanderthals began much earlier and were far more intimate than previously imagined.

An international team led by Prof. Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, working alongside Dr. Anne Dambricourt‑Malassé of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), applied cutting‑edge micro‑CT imaging and 3D reconstruction techniques to study the child’s remains. Their work uncovered a remarkable mosaic of features: a cranial vault aligned with modern humans, paired with a jaw and inner‑ear structures typical of Neanderthals. These anatomical signatures, invisible to the naked eye, provide the earliest physical proof of interbreeding between the two species.

Prof. Hershkovitz said, “Genetics told us the story, but this fossil shows it in flesh and bone. Until now, evidence suggested that such exchanges happened between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. This child lived 140,000 years ago, changing the timeline of contact completely.”

For decades, the Skhul and nearby Qafzeh remains were catalogued as early Homo sapiens. With the aid of modern technology, researchers now see a more complex picture: one of overlapping communities, shared lifeways, and even intermarriage. Inner cranial blood‑vessel networks and delicate ear canal structures revealed by the scans point to traits that defy neat categorisation, underlining how deeply entwined these populations were.

The study, published in l’Anthropologie, adds to Israel’s reputation as a cradle of discovery. From early human migrations out of Africa to the crossroads of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens populations, the Levant continues to offer pivotal insights into our shared past. The Skhul child now stands as the earliest face of this story, not just a fossil, but a symbol of kinship across species.

The findings remind us that humanity’s beginnings were never linear. They were layered with exchanges, encounters, and connections that continue to echo in our DNA today, where traces of Neanderthal heritage still reside in all non‑African populations.

About the research The study was led by Tel Aviv University’s Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute in collaboration with CNRS. Using micro‑CT scans and comparative morphology, researchers revisited legacy fossils with modern science, reshaping the story of early human interaction in the Levant. The full findings appear in l’Anthropologie.