Researchers Use New Methods to Date Ancient Skeleton
2025-03-14



Scientists have dated the ancient skeleton of a child that drew a lot of attention because it appeared to have both human and Neanderthal qualities.

The nearly complete skeleton, first discovered 27 years ago in central Portugal, was red in color. Scientists think it may have been wrapped in a painted animal skin before burial.

When the remains were discovered, scientists noted that some of the bone structure looked Neanderthal. The researchers suggested that the child's ancestors came from populations in which humans and Neanderthals mated and mixed. The idea was radical at that time.

But progress in genetics has since shown those mixed populations existed - and people today still carry Neanderthal genetic material, or DNA.

But scientists have had trouble learning when exactly the child lived. They were were not able to use traditional carbon dating on the bones due to corruption of the remains by plants or other sources. Instead, researchers dated some charcoal and animal bones around the skeleton to between 27,700 and 29,700 years ago.

However, dating techniques have since improved. Researchers reported recently in the publication Science Advances that they dated the skeleton by measuring part of a protein found mainly in human bones.

Examining part of a crushed arm, researchers found that the earlier estimate was close. They report the skeleton is from between 27,700 and 28,600 years ago.

Bethan Linscott of the University of Miami is a study writer. Linscott told the Associated Press (AP), "Being able to successfully date the child felt like giving them back a tiny piece of their story." She described the research experience as a privilege, meaning an honor.

Linscott noted that the first discovery was of more than just a skeleton, but also a burial site of a young child. When dating the bones, she said she could not help but wonder who loved the child, what made them laugh and what their world looked like in the short four years they walked the planet.

Paul Pettitt is an archeologist at Durham University in England who was not involved in the study. He told the AP that the study is an example of how dating methods are becoming more effective and helping scientists better understand the past.

The study of where humans came from is important "for the same reason we keep the portraits of our parents and grandparents," said study writer João Zilhão of the University of Lisbon.

"It's a way of remembering," the archeologist said.

I'm John Russell.

Adithi Ramakrishnan reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

radical - adj. very different from the usual or traditional

charcoal - n. a dark or black carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances

portrait - n. a picture of a person