Scientists say they have recovered the oldest known Homo sapiens DNA from human remains found in Europe, and the information is helping to reveal our species’ shared history with Neanderthals.

The ancient genomes sequenced from 13 bone fragments unearthed in a cave beneath a medieval castle in Ranis, Germany, belonged to six individuals, including a mother, daughter and distant cousins who lived in the region around 45,000 years ago, according to the study that published Thursday in the journal Nature.

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An illustration depicts early Europeans who lived in what’s now Ranis, Germany, around 45,000 years ago and likely traveled together across the open steppe landscape.
Tom Björklund/Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology