Early humans found living in Eurasia 2 million years ago

The journey of human ancestors from Africa to other parts of the world has long fascinated scientists. Recent evidence from Romania suggests this migration began earlier than previously believed.

Fossils from the site of Grăunceanu in the Olteț River Valley reveal that hominins—our early relatives—may have ventured into Eurasia nearly two million years ago, 200,000 years earlier than earlier records from Georgia’s Dmanisi site.

Grăunceanu is located in the Dacian Basin near Romania's Carpathian Mountains. The region’s rich fossil deposits date back to the Early Pleistocene, between 2.2 and 1.3 million years ago.

During the 1960s, researchers unearthed thousands of fossils from this area, revealing a forest-steppe environment teeming with prehistoric animals, including mammoths, saber-toothed cats, giraffes, and pangolins. While no hominin remains were found, hints of their presence surfaced through marks on animal bones.

More than 5,000 fossilized bones from Grăunceanu were examined over decades, with researchers identifying at least 20 specimens bearing cut marks made by stone tools. These marks, found on bones of various animals, strongly indicate butchering activity by hominins.

High-precision uranium-lead dating of the fossils determined their age to be at least 1.95 million years. This timeline places hominins in Eurasia much earlier than previously documented.

Researchers faced challenges working with fossils excavated over 50 years ago. Connecting the cut-marked bones to hominin activity required thorough analysis and collaboration among experts.

Sabrina Curran, an anthropologist at Ohio University, spearheaded the study alongside a multidisciplinary team that included Claire Terhune from the University of Arkansas and Alexandru Petculescu of Romania’s Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology. The group also collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution and Colorado State University.

“We didn’t initially expect to find much,” Curran shared. “But during a routine check of the collections, we found several cut-marked bones. This led to further investigation and the discovery of deliberate butchering activities.”

The study highlights the adaptability of early hominins. Stable isotope analysis of a horse fossil from Grăunceanu revealed that the region experienced seasonal temperature changes and higher rainfall, contrasting with the drier African savannas where hominins originated. These environmental conditions likely presented new challenges and opportunities for survival.

Before this discovery, the site of Dmanisi in Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago, held the title for the earliest known hominin presence outside Africa. The Grăunceanu findings suggest hominins were in Eurasia even earlier, spreading across diverse landscapes. This raises questions about how these ancient humans adapted to environments vastly different from those of their African homeland.

Grăunceanu’s fossil record provides a snapshot of a complex ecosystem. It shows hominins shared their environment with woolly rhinos, giant deer, ostriches, and other fauna. The variety of species indicates the region’s ecological richness, which may have supported early human survival.

The lack of stone tools at Grăunceanu posed a challenge for researchers. However, similar tools were previously documented at nearby sites like Dealul Mijlociu, reinforcing the likelihood of hominin activity in the region. These tools, combined with the cut-marked bones, present a compelling case for hominin dispersal into Europe around two million years ago.

“This discovery is a pivotal moment in understanding human prehistory,” said Curran. “It demonstrates that early hominins had already begun to explore and inhabit diverse environments across Eurasia, showing an adaptability that would later play a crucial role in their survival and spread.”

The findings also spark debate among paleoanthropologists. Claire Terhune noted the scrutiny their work has faced, given the implications of such an early presence in Eurasia. “The field of paleoanthropology can be contentious. People get really fired up about human ancestors,” she explained. “We’ve been meticulous in documenting the cut marks to ensure the evidence is indisputable.”

The study underscores the complexity of human evolution, challenging long-held assumptions about when and how early humans left Africa. It highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of hominins, who thrived in new and changing environments. This adaptability may have been key to their eventual global dispersal.

The Grăunceanu site offers a glimpse into a critical chapter of human history. By pushing the timeline of hominin dispersal into Eurasia back by 200,000 years, it opens the door to new questions about early migrations. What drove these ancient ancestors to leave Africa? How did they navigate and survive unfamiliar terrains? And what other traces of their journey remain undiscovered?

As Curran put it, “The history of human evolution is far more complex and intricate than we could have imagined, and we are just beginning to uncover the many chapters of that story.”

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