Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician

Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) is a culture or technocomplex (industry) dating to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, about 45,000 years ago. It is characterised by leaf points made on long blades, which were traditionally thought to have been made by the last Neanderthals, although some researchers have suggested that it could be a culture of the first anatomically modern humans in Europe. It is rarely found, but extends across northwest Europe from Wales to Poland.^[1][2][3]

Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician

Geographical range	Northwest Europe
Period	Upper Paleolithic
Dates	c. 45,000 years BP

Major sites

The cave in Ranis in Thuringia

The technocomplex is named after findings in Kents Cavern, Lincombe Hill, Torquay (Devon, England), the cave of Ilsenhöhle in Ranis (Thuringia, Germany), and the Jerzmanowicien cave in Ojców (Kraków County, Poland). About 40 different sites have been identified.^[4] At Ilsenhöhle, an excavation conducted from 2016 to 2022 found fossils containing Homo sapiens DNA in a layer of sediment that also contained stone tools.^[3]

Evidence for modern humans

In an article in Nature in 2024, researchers reported that they had found mitochondrial DNA of modern humans in bones from Ranis cave dated to around 45,000 years ago, providing evidence both for the association of LRJ with modern humans, and that they reached the higher latitudes of Europe by this early date.^[5][6]

See also

• Transitional cultures : Châtelperronian - Uluzzian - Bohunician - Szeletian
• Follow-on cultures : Gravettian - Sungir - Kostenki