Neanderthals
400,000 – 40,000 years ago
Burial, pigment, and the genomic evidence for interbreeding with modern humans.
Every claim in this period carries its evidence with it.
Skeletons, Mousterian tool assemblages, burials, pigment and shell use, and sequenced ancient genomes.
- 01
Neanderthals were a distinct population with their own long technological and cultural record across Europe and western Asia.
- 02
They interbred with modern humans: non-African genomes today carry Neanderthal ancestry.
- 03
They buried at least some of their dead and used pigment and ornament.
Each row states the method, what is actually measured, and — the part usually skipped — what the result does not settle.
| Method | Material | What it constrains |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient DNA sequencing | Bone and tooth powder, and sediment DNA from cave floors | Establishes population relationships and admixture. Contamination control is the whole ballgame. |
| Radiocarbon with ultrafiltration | Collagen from bone near the limit of the method | Improved pretreatment pushed many 'late' dates older, revising overlap estimates with modern humans. |
| Uranium–thorium dating of carbonate crusts | Flowstone over cave art and structures | Gives a minimum age for what lies beneath the crust, not the act itself. |
How much symbolic behaviour is securely Neanderthal?
Several claimed cases turn on whether the dated crust really postdates the mark.
Why did they disappear as a distinct population?
Competition, climate, demography and absorption by admixture are all on the table.
“Neanderthals were brutish and cognitively limited.”
The archaeological record shows planning, composite technology, care of the injured and pigment use.
“They were wiped out by modern humans.”
Their DNA persists in living people. Replacement and absorption are not the same event.
- How large were their populations, and how fragmented?
- How much of the assimilation happened where and when?
- What did their language capacity actually look like?
Neanderthal genome project publications
Nature / Science
Middle Palaeolithic site monographs
Journal of Human Evolution