>analyzed samples of preserved dental plaque from the remains of 74 early humans unearthed at 28 European archaeological sites. Some of the teeth were around 2,000 years old, while others were more than 8,000 years old

Is it normal to refer to people of this time period as "early humans"?

Maybe they are intending to extrapolate backwards, but 8 kya is still a far cry from the 300 kya origin of Homo sapiens...