Genetic Evidence Uncovers 100,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Group in Poland

An international team of researchers has uncovered genetic evidence of a small Neanderthal community that lived together around 100,000 years ago in Stajnia Cave, located in southern Poland north of the Carpathian Mountains. The analysis of mitochondrial DNA from eight Neanderthal teeth marks the first time scientists have reconstructed a coherent genetic profile of multiple individuals from this region, revealing insights into their social structure and broader migrations across Europe.

The remains, excavated between 2007 and 2010 from the cave's rear chamber, belong to at least seven Neanderthals, including juveniles and adults. Published in Current Biology on April 20, 2026, the study highlights how this group shared maternal lineages during a warm interglacial period between approximately 120,000 and 92,500 years ago. Lead author Andrea Picin, a professor at the University of Bologna, described the find as groundbreaking. "This is an extraordinary result because, for the first time, we are able to observe a small group of at least seven Neanderthals from Central-Eastern Europe who lived around 100,000 years ago," Picin said. Unlike typical Neanderthal genetic data, which...