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When did Homo sapiens first enter Europe?
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Homo sapiens
Human beings (Homo sapiens) are anatomically similar and related to the great apes but are distinguished by a more highly developed brain and a resultant capacity for articulate speech and abstract reasoning.
Homo sapiens first entered Europe approximately 45,000 to 43,000 years ago.12
While some scientists point to a jawbone fragment found at Kentās Cavern in England, dated to between 44,200 and 41,500 years ago, as potential evidence of the earliest Homo sapiens in northwestern Europe, the general consensus places the arrival of modern humans on the continent within that 45,000ā43,000-year timeframe.312
It is important to clarify that while Homo sapiens arrived during this period, Europe had been inhabited by other hominin speciesāsuch as Neanderthalsāfor hundreds of thousands of years prior to the arrival of modern humans.12