The basic facts are well-established. Neanderthals and Humans share a common parent, Homo heidelbergensis, and a common grandparent, Homo erectus. About 400,000 years ago Neanderthals migrated out of Africa and settled across Europe to southwestern and central Asia. They adapted to the Eurasian Ice Age. Another branch migrated to Siberia and evolved into a separate species, the Denisovans.
Meanwhile, Homo sapiens evolved from Homo heidelbergensis in Africa about 200,000 years ago but didn’t migrate out of Africa until about 60,000 years ago. The migration continued in a slow but steady trickle until about 47,000 years ago. Then after interacting and breeding with Neanderthals and Denisovans for at least a few thousand years, those two species of our genus, Homo, vanished about 40,000 years ago. What happened?
Neanderthals were much more advanced than originally conceived. They buried their dead and left behind evidence of flower pollen in some of the graves, meaning they were capable of symbolic thinking. They cared for their sick and elderly which suggests they felt compassion. Moreover, they possessed a hyoid bone, the largest cartilage of the larynx (voice box), which very likely enabled them to speak. They were artists who painted with red ochre and left behind depictions of animals and geometric patterns on cave walls. There is also ample evidence that they adorned themselves with shell beads and other trinkets, and, of course, they made their own animal pelt clothes.
They were advanced hunters who killed wooly mammoths and other giant megafauna, thereby demonstrating their communication skills and physical prowess. Speaking of which, they were short (5’4” average height) and strong with broad, powerful bodies. Their skin was thicker than that of humans. They had large, wide noses and breathed from their diaphragms which helped them adapt to the harsh Ice Age environment of Eurasia.
Therefore, they were much better adapted to survive the Ice Age than our species, Homo sapiens, who evolved in a much warmer Africa and trickled into icy Eurasia. So why did they go extinct while humans survived? Did we kill them in fierce raids as we seized their women, children, possessions, and caves? There is currently scarce evidence for this hypothesis. Neanderthals and Denisovans appeared to be just as intelligent as early humans. They were, after all, skilled hunters who wouldn’t have been easy to outsmart, and they were much stronger as well.
So why did our species survive while the stronger, possibly smarter, better-adapted Neanderthals and Denisovans perished? What happened? (to be continued in the next post)