News in Brief Anthropology

Israeli fossil may recast history of first Europeans

Ancient braincase suggests humans and Neandertals mated in Middle East, then moved north

Homo sapiens braincase

FOSSIL FIND  A more than 50,000-year-old Homo sapiens braincase found in an Israeli cave may come from a human population that mated with Neandertals in the Middle East before settling Europe.

Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority

By Bruce Bower

Excavations in Israel’s Manot Cave have unearthed the first fossil — a braincase — of a modern human who lived outside Africa between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago.