The skull of a small child who lived and died many millennia ago represents the oldest direct evidence to date of the prolonged mingling between anatomically modern humans and our closely related cousins, the Neanderthals .

Clearly showing features of both groups, the skull has been d ated to around 140,000 years ago; more than 100,000 years older than the only other specimen of its kind, known as the Lapedo child .

What makes this discovery so interesting is that it rewrites the timeline of Neanderthal migration into what is now Israel, enriching our understanding of the two species' shared history.

"In our study," explains anthropologist and anatomist Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, "we show that the child's skull, which in its overall shape resembles that of Ho

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