Mysterious artifacts suggest modern humans and Neanderthals lived side by side for millennia.

New evidence suggests that modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted in Europe for thousands of years. Archaeologists have discovered fragments of hominin bone in a cave in Germany that are at least 45,000 years old and have been identified as the remains of Homo sapiens. These bones were found alongside stone tools that were previously attributed to Neanderthals, indicating that early humans were more widespread and present in Europe earlier than previously thought. Genetic evidence also confirms that modern humans and Neanderthals interacted and sometimes interbred. However, it appears that a new wave of modern humans arrived about 40,000 years ago and eventually replaced Neanderthals. [Extracted from the article]