The most precious objects of a different human species, along with numerous bones from extinct animals, have been excavated from the Tunel Wielki Cave, a unique treasure.
A recent study has helped uncover the shocking true value of the artifacts found in the Tunel Wielki Cave in Poland in 2018.
Tunel Wielki Cave – (Photo: Miron Bogacki).
According to Heritage Daily, when first discovered, the rich collection of artifacts, including approximately 40 flint pieces comprising food processing tools and byproducts from flint tool production, along with countless animal bones of various species, was assessed to be highly valuable, dating back about 40,000 years.
However, new research led by Dr. Malgorzata Kot from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw has revealed that this treasure may be as much as 440,000 to 550,000 years old.
This discovery is significant in multiple ways:
Firstly, this extraordinary dating confirms that the collection of animal remains—including a species of wolf, a species of cave bear, and cave lions—belongs to extremely distant ancestors that have since become extinct. The majority of the animal bones appear to be natural remains rather than processed, despite being found alongside flint tools, leading scientists to believe that these animals coexisted with the humans who occupied this cave and became trapped in a layer of sediment.
Secondly, it is certain that these remains cannot belong to our species—Homo sapiens, which has existed on Earth for only about 300,000 years.
Thus, the sharp flint tools, the most valuable possessions of ancient cave dwellers, have also become unique artifacts from an extinct human species left behind for future generations. It remains unclear who they were and to which species they belonged.
Scientists believe it is highly likely they were Homo heidelbergensis, a species within the genus Homo, closely related to us and branching with the Neanderthals in Europe on the family tree. The clearest evidence of their existence dates back approximately 600,000 to 400,000 years.
As a result, the findings in the Tunel Wielki Cave naturally become the oldest human remains ever recorded in Poland, promising to open up numerous research opportunities in anthropology and paleozoology.
