Vindija Cave, an archaeological site in Croatia, has since 1999 been considered evidence for Neanderthals living in Europe as recently as 28,000 years ago, and certainly proof for humans and neanderthals coexisting. Members of the same team led by Erik Trinkaus, have used improved AMS radiocarbon dating methods to refine the dates. The results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), have caused the team to retract the 28,000 year dates, and provide a more typical date for Neanderthal as 32,000 years ago. Several sites in southern Europe already have dates approximating 32,000 years ago, such as Arcy-sur-Cure in France and Zafarraya Cave in Spain. Further, a handful of sites also contain modern human materials of the same period or so, such as Mladec Cave in the Czech Republic.
However, the retooling of this site's dates, and those of others in southern Europe, is likely to cause some amount of discussion concerning the assignment of a particular tool kit to a particular hominid, including both Mousterian and Aurignacian industries.
The 1999 article was published in PNAS and is available on line:
Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains. Fred H. Smith et al. PNAS 6(22): 12281-12286
The 2005 article was also published in PNAS and can be purchased through the PNAS website by following the link below
Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals, Tom Higham. PNAS 10.
However, the retooling of this site's dates, and those of others in southern Europe, is likely to cause some amount of discussion concerning the assignment of a particular tool kit to a particular hominid, including both Mousterian and Aurignacian industries.
The 1999 article was published in PNAS and is available on line:
Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains. Fred H. Smith et al. PNAS 6(22): 12281-12286
The 2005 article was also published in PNAS and can be purchased through the PNAS website by following the link below
Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals, Tom Higham. PNAS 10.
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