Scientists Date Remains of Ancient Child that Resembles Both Humans, Neanderthals

This photo provided by João Zilhão shows forearm bone fragments belonging to an ancient child that appeared to have features from both humans and Neanderthals. (João Zilhão via AP)
This photo provided by João Zilhão shows forearm bone fragments belonging to an ancient child that appeared to have features from both humans and Neanderthals. (João Zilhão via AP)
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Scientists Date Remains of Ancient Child that Resembles Both Humans, Neanderthals

This photo provided by João Zilhão shows forearm bone fragments belonging to an ancient child that appeared to have features from both humans and Neanderthals. (João Zilhão via AP)
This photo provided by João Zilhão shows forearm bone fragments belonging to an ancient child that appeared to have features from both humans and Neanderthals. (João Zilhão via AP)

Scientists have dated the skeleton of an ancient child that caused a stir when it was first discovered because it carries features from both humans and Neanderthals.
The child's remains were discovered 27 years ago in a rock shelter called Lagar Velho in central Portugal. The nearly complete skeleton was stained red, and scientists think it may have been wrapped in a painted animal skin before burial.
When the humanlike child was discovered, scientists noted that some of their attributes — including body proportions and jawbone — looked Neanderthal. The researchers suggested that the child was descended from populations in which humans and Neanderthals mated and mixed. That was a radical notion at the time, but advances in genetics have since proven those populations existed — and people today still carry Neanderthal DNA.
But trying to figure out when exactly the child lived has been difficult. Small roots had grown through the bones and contamination — from plants or other sources — made it impossible for scientists to use traditional carbon dating to measure the child's age. They instead dated the charcoal and animal bones around the skeleton to between 27,700 and 29,700 years ago.
Techniques have improved, and researchers reported Friday in the journal Science Advances that they were able to date the skeleton by measuring part of a protein that's found primarily in human bones, The Associated Press reported.
Examining part of a crushed arm, they revealed that the earlier estimate was in the ballpark: the skeleton was from between 27,700 and 28,600 years ago.
“Being able to successfully date the child felt like giving them back a tiny piece of their story, which is a huge privilege,” said Bethan Linscott, a study author now at the University of Miami, in an email.
She noted the initial discovery was more than a skeleton — it was also the grave of a young child. When dating the bones, she couldn’t help but wonder who loved the child, what made them laugh and what their world looked like in the short four years they walked the planet.
Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist at Durham University in England who was not involved with the new research said in an email that the study is an example of how dating methods are becoming more effective and helping scientists better understand the past.
The study of where humans came from is important “for the same reason we keep the portraits of our parents and grandparents,” said study author João Zilhão from the University of Lisbon.
“It's a way of remembering,” he said.



Surging Travel in Europe Spikes Concerns over Tourism's Drawbacks

FILE - Demonstrators march in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, as residents protest mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
FILE - Demonstrators march in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, as residents protest mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
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Surging Travel in Europe Spikes Concerns over Tourism's Drawbacks

FILE - Demonstrators march in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, as residents protest mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
FILE - Demonstrators march in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, as residents protest mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

Suitcases rattle against cobblestones. Selfie-snappers jostle for the same shot. Ice cream shops are everywhere. Europe has been called the world’s museum, but its record numbers of visitors have also made it ground zero for concerns about overtourism.

Last year, 747 million international travelers visited the continent, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the UN's World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70% of them, The Associated Press reported.

As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated.

Here's a look at the issue in some of Europe's most visited destinations.

What’s causing overtourism Among factors driving the record numbers are cheap flights, social media, the ease of travel planning using artificial intelligence and what UN tourism officials call a strong economic outlook for many rich countries that send tourists despite some geopolitical and economic tensions.

Citizens of countries like the US, Japan, China and the UK generate the most international trips, especially to popular destinations, such as Barcelona in Spain and Venice in Italy. They swarm these places seasonally, creating uneven demand for housing and resources such as water.

Despite popular backlash against the crowds, some tourism officials believe they can be managed with the right infrastructure in place.

Italy's Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè said she thinks tourism flows at crowded sites such Florence's Uffizi Galleries that house some of the world's most famous artworks could be better managed with AI, with tourists able to buy their tickets when they book their travel, even months in advance, to prevent surges.

She pushed back against the idea that Italy — which like all of its Southern European neighbors, welcomed more international visitors in 2024 than its entire population — has a problem with too many tourists, adding that most visits are within just 4% of the country's territory.

“It’s a phenomenon that can absolutely be managed,” Santanchè told The Associated Press in an interview in her office on Friday. "Tourism must be an opportunity, not a threat — even for local communities. That’s why we are focusing on organizing flows.”

Where overtourism is most intense Countries on the Mediterranean are at the forefront. Olympics-host France, the biggest international destination, last year received 100 million international visitors, while second-place Spain received almost 94 million — nearly double its own population.

Protests have erupted across Spain over the past two years. In Barcelona, the water gun has become a symbol of the city's anti-tourism movement after marching protests have spritzed unsuspecting tourists while carrying signs saying: “One more tourist, one less resident!”

The pressure on infrastructure has been particularly acute on Spain's Canary and Balearic Islands, which have a combined population of less than 5 million people. Each archipelago saw upwards of 15 million visitors last year.

Elsewhere in Europe, tourism overcrowding has vexed Italy's most popular sites including Venice, Rome, Capri and Verona, where Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” was set. On the popular Amalfi Coast, ride-hailing app Uber offers private helicopter and boat rides in the summer to beat the crowds.

Greece, which saw nearly four times as many tourists as its own population last year, has struggled with the strain on water, housing and energy in the summer months, especially on popular islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and others.

The impact of overtourism In Spain, anti-tourism activists, academics, and the government say that overtourism is driving up housing costs in city centers and other popular locations due to the proliferation of short-term rentals that cater to visitors.

Others bemoan changes to the very character of city neighborhoods that drew tourists in the first place.

In Barcelona and elsewhere, activists and academics have said that neighborhoods popular with tourists have seen local shops replaced with souvenir vendors, international chains and trendy eateries.

On some of Greece's most-visited islands, tourism has overlapped with water scarcity as drought grips the Mediterranean country of 10.4 million.

In France, the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, shut down this week when its staff went on strike warning that the facility was crumbling beneath the weight of overtourism, stranding thousands of ticketed visitors lined up under the baking sun.

Angelos Varvarousis, a Barcelona- and Athens-based academic and urban planner who studies the industry, said overtourism risks imposing a “monoculture” on many of Europe's hotspots.

“It is combined with the gradual loss and displacement of other social and economic activities,” Varvarousis said.

What authorities are doing to cope Spain's government wants to tackle what officials call the country's biggest governance challenge: its housing crunch.

Last month, Spain's government ordered Airbnb to take down almost 66,000 properties it said had violated local rules — while Barcelona announced a plan last year to phase out all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028. Officials said the measure was to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents.

Elsewhere, authorities have tried to regulate tourist flows by cracking down on overnight stays or imposing fees for those visiting via cruises.

In Greece, starting July 1, a cruise tax will be levied on island visitors at 20 euros ($23) for popular destinations like Mykonos and 5 euros ($5.70) for less-visited islands like Samos.

The government has also encouraged visitors to seek quieter locations.
To alleviate water problems, water tankers from mainland Greece have helped parched islands, and the islands have also used desalination technology, which separates salts from ocean water to make it drinkable, to boost their drinking water.

Other measures have included staggered visiting hours at the Acropolis.
Meanwhile, Venice brought back an entry fee this year that was piloted last year on day-trippers who will have to pay between 5 and 10 euros (roughly $6 to $12) to enter the city during the peak season.