The study reveals that when Homo sapiens migrated from Africa around 200,000 years ago, they encountered Neanderthals who had already spread across Eurasia. Initial forays by Homo sapiens out of Africa did not result in established populations, as these groups eventually disappeared. In contrast, Neanderthals, having left Africa much earlier, were well-established in these regions and interbreeding between the two groups occurred regularly when they met. It is notable that approximately 2% of non-African human DNA today can be traced back to Neanderthal ancestry from these interactions. Despite the known antiquity of these interactions, the exact timing and locations of the hybridization events remained unclear for many years. However, advancements in genomics have begun to fill these gaps. Evidence suggests that while the first migrations of Homo sapiens occurred around 100,000 years ago, significant hybridization opportunities began about 60,000 years ago. New findings published by researchers at institutions such as the Max Planck Institute indicate that the first hybridization events happened around 47,000 years ago, contrary to previous estimates, and persisted until the extinction of Neanderthals around 6,800 years later. Furthermore, a new detailed map of hybridization events based on analysis of over 4,100 ancient DNA samples from 1,200 sites has been created. This research pinpoints the Eastern Mediterranean as a likely region for these early hybridization events and marks an important step in understanding the genetic legacy of the Neanderthals within modern human populations. The findings will likely have lasting implications for the study of human evolution and the understanding of genetic diversity.