Archaeologists and anthropologists in France have concluded that the presence of Homo sapiens in the lands where primitive European humans lived dates back much earlier than previously known, according to fossils and tools discovered in the Mandrin Cave located near the Rhône River in France.

Previously, archaeological studies indicated that the primitive humans in Europe became extinct about 40,000 years ago, which was shortly after Homo sapiens arrived on the continent around 45,000 years ago.

The specialist in human evolution at the Natural History Museum in London, Professor Chris Stringer, considers that understanding the interaction between primitive and modern humans is important to explain "why we alone have survived among other human species."