Human presence in the European Arctic nearly 40,000 years ago

The transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic, approximately 40, 000-35,000 radiocarbon years ago, marks a turning point in the history of h uman evolution in Europe. Many changes in the archaeological and fossil rec ord at this time have been associated with the appearance of anatomically m odern humans(1,2). Before this transition, the Neanderthals roamed the cont inent, but their remains have not been found in the northernmost part of Eu rasia. It is generally believed that this vast region was not colonized by humans until the final stage of the last Ice Age some 13,000-14,000 years a go(3,4). Here we report the discovery of traces of human occupation nearly 40,000 years old at Mamontovaya Kurya, a Palaeolithic site situated in the European part of the Russian Arctic. At this site we have uncovered stone a rtefacts, animal bones and a mammoth tusk with human-made marks from strata covered by thick Quaternary deposits. This is the oldest documented eviden ce for human presence at this high latitude; it implies that either the Nea nderthals expanded much further north than previously thought or that moder n humans were present in the Arctic only a few thousand years after their f irst appearance in Europe.