Archaeologists uncovered stone tools used by prehistoric Homo erectus at the Korolevo site back in the 1980s. However, at that time, scientists were unable to accurately determine the age of these findings. Recently, a team led by Roman Garba from the Czech Academy of Sciences has dated these artifacts using cutting-edge technology. It turns out that the artifacts are 1.4 million years old.
This discovery represents the earliest evidence of human existence in Europe, rewriting the history of ancient European migration. Members of Homo erectus spread across Europe from the Caucasus, moving westward through the Carpathians.
The archaeological site at Korolevo, located in the Berehove district of Transcarpathia, is impressive, reaching depths of 14 meters. Within its layers, which have accumulated over approximately one and a half million years, researchers have unearthed thousands of artifacts. Scientists have identified at least seven periods of hominid habitation here, as reported by Science Alert.
Two stone tools and a quartzite fragment from the oldest layer at Korolevo. (Czech Academy of Sciences)
What the researchers discovered
“It was previously thought that the earliest humans could not survive in colder latitudes without the use of fire or complex stone tools. However, we have evidence that Homo erectus lived further north than previous studies suggested,” noted archaeologist Andy Harris from La Trobe University (Australia).
At the site in Transcarpathia, scientists found no biological remains. Only stone artifacts were present, said Mads Knudsen, the lead author of the study from Aarhus University (Denmark). This means that the radiocarbon dating method, typically used to determine the age of organic materials, was not applicable in this case. For decades since the discovery of the artifacts, researchers could only speculate about their age.
Unassuming fragments of stone turned out to be tools once used by our direct ancestors—Homo erectus. As it turns out, these tools are early evidence of hominid habitation on the European continent.
To reach this conclusion, scientists had to turn to more modern dating methods. “To answer the questions posed by archaeology and anthropology, we need to employ methods from both nuclear physics and geophysics,” Mr. Garba explained.
Ultimately, the team utilized a dating method involving cosmogenic nuclides. These rare isotopes are formed when high-energy cosmic rays collide with chemical minerals on the Earth’s surface. Changes in the concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 helped determine the age of the minerals, Garba clarified.
Additionally, the research team also employed their own mathematical model to ascertain the age of the sediment layers. This method was used for archaeological dating for the first time. Ultimately, it became clear that the oldest tools date back 1.42 million years.
This means that Homo erectus appeared in Europe over 1.4 million years ago, migrating through Asia 1.8 million years ago.
A new map of Homo erectus migration history developed by Garba’s team
As noted by geochronologist Véronique Michel from the University of Nice (France), artifacts proving the presence of the first humans in Europe more than 800,000 years ago are extremely rare.
It was previously believed that the earliest “accurately dated evidence of hominins in Europe dates back about 1.1 to 1.2 million years,” the researchers wrote in their report. Fossils and tools from these prehistoric people were once discovered in Spain and France.
It’s worth mentioning that the oldest Homo erectus fossils ever found in the world are two million years old. They were excavated from a cave in South Africa.
The results of the study were published in the journal Nature.