Legacy in Stone and Bone: The First H. sapiens in Europe 45,000 Years Ago

Bacho Kiro Cave paleo team and the Museum of History-Dryanovo are organizing the temporary exhibition "Legacy in Stone and Bone: The First Homo sapiens in Europe 45,000 Years Ago".

The exhibition takes us back to the dawn of modern human presence in Europe, revealed by groundbreaking discoveries in Bacho Kiro Cave. Between 2015 and 2021, excavations uncovered finds of global significance, including the earliest indisputable evidence of Homo sapiens on the continent dating back approximately 45,000 years.

Through a combination of cutting-edge genetic and isotopic analyses alongside traditional archaeological methods, the exhibition presents the story of these first modern humans who settled in Southeastern Europe. Visitors will see authentic fossils, including fragments of human bones and an upper jaw, which, together with a rich collection of stone and bone tools and personal ornaments, narrate their way of life.

Among the most impressive exhibits are some of the oldest known personal ornaments in Europe, crafted from cave bear's teeth. These artifacts testify to the emergence of symbolic thinking and complex social organization at the very beginning of Homo sapiens' dispersal across Eurasia.

The exhibition also showcases the innovative stone technologies of the first modern humans, who processed and reused their tools with great skill. Through interdisciplinary research, their adaptability, interaction with the environment, and technological achievements are revealed.

"Legacy in Stone and Bone" tells a crucial story of human evolution - of the first humans entering lands inhabited by Neanderthals and laying the foundations for the upcoming Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens world. This is the story of our shared prehistory, uncovered through the prism of international archaeological discoveries of global significance.

The exhibition will be officially open on October 14th (Tuesday), 2025, at the Museum of History - Dryanovo (Dryanovo town, Shipka Str. 82)