Recent research confirms the coexistence of two distinct prehistoric human species in the Altai region of modern-day Russia. The findings, reported by Mikhail Shunkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and head of the Stone Age archaeology department at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, indicate that both Denisovans and Neanderthals inhabited the same area.
Excavations in two caves—Denisova and Chagirskaya, located approximately 100 kilometers apart—revealed that these groups lived simultaneously in the region. Neanderthals occupied the Chagirskaya cave, practicing the classic Mousterian culture, which shares similarities with European Neanderthal traditions.
In contrast, the Denisovans resided in the Denisova cave, where research this year focused on the deepest and oldest layers, dating back around 300,000 years. Genetic analysis indicates that Denisovans were the initial inhabitants of this cave, arriving approximately 300,000 years ago, followed by Neanderthals around 130,000 years ago.
This year, researchers analyzed over 20,000 fragments of animal bones from the Denisova cave, finding that the primary prey for the Denisovans included deer, Siberian ibex, and argali sheep. In comparison, Neanderthals favored hunting bison in their nearby territory.
Shunkov noted that traditional theories link the emergence of diverse ornaments and bone artifacts during the Upper Paleolithic to the arrival of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) in the region. However, ongoing research suggests that these cultural developments may be more closely associated with the Denisovan population's evolution in Altai.
Additionally, earlier this year, burial sites older than the Egyptian pyramids were discovered in Tatarstan, featuring stone arrowheads, ornaments made from deer and beaver teeth, boar tusks, and pendants crafted from Urals serpentinite. These graves date back to the latter half of the fifth millennium BCE, predating the pyramids by over 1,500 years. One burial contained the remains of a woman and a 4-5-year-old child, while another belonged to an adult.