The first “Europeans” emerged as hybrids between dark-skinned humans from Africa and the white-skinned, red-haired, and blue-eyed Neanderthals already present on the European continent. Soon after, an artistic culture flourished in Europe, including depictions of animals and people on cave walls and the first musical instruments. Evidence for this comes from the skull remains found at Pestera cu Oase in Romania, at the Iron Gate of the Danube: the so-called Danubian Corridor, which allows one to easily cross the Carpathian Mountains and enter Europe. The human remains at Pestera cu Oase clearly resemble both Sapiens and Neanderthals and are therefore a hybrid. Genetic analysis of the remains reveals large portions of Neanderthal DNA, including the entire chromosome 12. Experimental evidence points to Sapiens-Neanderthal hybridization occurring only four to six generations before the individuals found at Pestera cu Oase. A blink of an eye for evolutionary time. No trace of Neanderthal DNA has been found in the male Y chromosome. So somewhere in Romania, 38,000 years ago, Sapiens men and Neanderthal women had sex, and the children were raised and in turn were able to grow and reproduce. Conversely, it is possible that there was also sex between Sapiens women and Neanderthal males, but the children either were not born or, following Haldane’s rule, hybrid offspring with two different chromosomes (which in mammals are males) are more likely to be sterile, according to statistical studies conducted by J.B.S. Haldane and published in 1922. Some Neanderthal characteristics, such as light skin, probably served these hybrids well, who were able to thrive in cold Europe. Pale skin allowed sunlight to penetrate, allowing the creation of vitamin D. Several recent studies of 50 fossils found throughout Europe dating from 37,000 to 14,000 years ago reveal that all Europeans of that period were descendants of the population found at Pestera cu Oase in Romania. During this period (37,000-14,000 years ago), the percentage of Neanderthal DNA was about 6%, but then gradually decreased to about 2% today, although 20% to 40% of the entire DNA genome survived in Homo sapiens in different individuals in Asia and Europe.
