Documenting the first appearance of modern humans in a given region is key to understanding the dispersal process and the replacement or assimilation of indigenous human populations such as the Neanderthals. The Iberian Peninsula was the last refuge of Neanderthal populations as modern humans advanced across Eurasia. Here we present evidence of an early Aurignacian occupation at Lapa do Picareiro in central Portugal. Diagnostic artifacts were found in a sealed stratigraphic layer dated 41.1 to 38.1 ka cal BP, documenting a modern human presence on the western margin of Iberia ∼5,000 years earlier than previously known. The data indicate a rapid modern human dispersal across southern Europe, reaching the westernmost edge where Neanderthals were thought to persist. The results support the notion of a mosaic process of modern human dispersal and replacement of indigenous Neanderthal populations.

Department of Anthropology and Geography Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80521

Department of Anthropology University of Louisville Louisville KY 40292

Department of History Arts and Humanities Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa 1169 023 Lisbon Portugal Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa 1600 214 Lisbon Portugal Centro de Geociências Universidade de Coimbra 3030 790 Coimbra Portugal

Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology 04103 Leipzig Germany Department of Chemistry University of Bologna 40126 Bologna Italy

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal Department of Anthropology University of Connecticut Storrs CT 06269

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal Department of Anthropology University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM 871317

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal Department of Anthropology University of West Bohemia 30614 Plzen Czech Republic

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington NC 28403

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