Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Finds from Bulgaria shed new light on history of Homo sapiens

Excavations at Bacho Kiro Cave
Photo: © Tsenka Tsanova

Fragments of human bones found in Bacho Kiro Cave in central Bulgaria suggest that Homo sapiens appeared in Europe several millennia earlier than previously thought and shared the Old Continent with the Neanderthals for longer. 

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany have analyzed 4 bone fragments and a tooth discovered in the cave. Radiocarbon dating and DNA tests show that the fossils date back to 46,000 years ago. 
The earliest ancient fragments of human bones in Europe have been found in Romania. Scientists believe that Homo sapiens came from Africa about 47,000 years ago, and the Danube Valley was probably used as a route for their settlement.
The international research team is led by Jean-Jacques Hublin, Tsenka Tsanova and Shannon McPherron of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and Nikolay Sirakov and Svoboda Sirakova of the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia.


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

President Radev calls for stronger EU security and urges North Macedonia to implement Consensus 2022

Addressing the crises facing the EU requires strengthening Europe's global competitiveness and ensuring security, President Rumen Radev said during a meeting with European Council President António Costa at the Munich Security Conference...

published on 2/16/25 10:39 AM
Support for protesting Serbian students in Pirot.

Bulgarians and Serbs from Tsaribrod and Pirot support student protests

Bulgarians and Serbs from the towns of Tsaribrod and Pirot marched in support of the student protests in Serbia , reports BTA. "We want the students' demands to be met and we hope that there will be changes in Serbia," demonstrators from the two towns in..

published on 2/16/25 10:27 AM

Balkan Stream pipeline exempted from US sanctions on Gazprombank transactions until March 2025

The Balkan Stream gas pipeline will not be subject to US sanctions for transactions with Russia's Gazprombank. This was revealed in a written answer to a parliamentary question to Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov. On December 23, 2024, the Ministry of..

published on 2/16/25 9:45 AM