New research - looking at a period dating back 40,000 years - claims Neanderthals disappeared at different times, instead of being suddenly replaced by modern humans, as previously thought.
Scientists used new dating evidence for 200 bone, charcoal and shell samples from 40 key European sites to prove the two groups overlapped for a significant period of time.
Neanderthals and modern humans both lived in Europe between 2,600 and 5,400 years, according to new research, which analysed Neanderthal remains and tools. Neanderthal foot bones found in Spain are shown
It is the first time that researchers have constructed a timeline showing when the last Neanderthals died out.
Because they and modern humans overlapped for a significant period, there was ‘ample time’ for interaction and interbreeding, experts said.
Neanderthals were a human sub-species distantly related to, but genetically different from, modern humans, or Homo sapiens.
They had already been living in Europe for hundreds of thousands of years when the first modern humans migrated out of Africa.
Professor Chris Stringer, Research Leader in Human Origins, the Natural History Museum, London said that interbreeding probably occurred soon after small groups of modern humans began to leave their African homeland about 60,000 years ago.
It is thought Neanderthals died out because they were unable to compete with our ancestors for food and resources.
Experts now think that Neanderthals disappeared at different times across Europe instead of suddenly being replaced by modern humans. This image shows a model Neanderthal using a tool to scrape some animal skin
Experts now think that Neanderthals disappeared at different times across Europe instead of suddenly being replaced by modern humans
A team led by the University of Oxford dated the samples from sites that ranged from Spain to Russia. All of them were linked with the Neanderthal tool-making industry, known as Mousterian, or were ‘transitional’ sites containing stone tools (pictured) associated with either early modern humans or Neanderthals
WHY DID THE NEANDERTHALS DISAPPEAR?
It is commonly thought that Neanderthals died out because they were unable to compete with modern humans for food and resources.
The new research now suggests that both groups co-existed for between 2,600 and 5,400 years and some interbreeding occurred.
Experts believe that Neanderthals ‘may have survived in dwindling pockets of Europe’ for several thousand years before becoming extinct, instead of being immediately replaced by modern humans.
The study didn’t cover eastern regions such as Uzbekistan and Siberia, where Neanderthals are also known to have lived.
‘So it is still possible Neanderthals lingered later in some areas,’ Professor Chris Stringer said.
‘Overall pattern seems clear – the Neanderthals had largely, and perhaps entirely, vanished from their known range by 39,000 years ago.’
A severe Heinrich event between 39,000 and 40,000 years ago, meant that cold and dry conditions hit Europe.
‘It remains to be seen whether that event delivered the coup de grâce to a Neanderthal population that was already low in numbers and genetic diversity, and trying to cope with economic competition from incoming groups of Homo sapiens,’ Professor Stringer said.
A team led by the University of Oxford, dated the samples from sites that ranged from Spain to Russia.
All of them were linked with the Neanderthal tool-making industry, known as Mousterian, or were ‘transitional’ sites containing stone tools associated with either early modern humans or Neanderthals.
This tool making industry ended between 39,260 and 41,030 years ago, and suggests the overlap between Neanderthals and modern humans.
The study claims that Neanderthals ‘may have survived in dwindling pockets of Europe’ for several thousand years before becoming extinct.
It took experts six years to build mathematical models that combined the new radiocarbon dates with established archaeological evidence, according to the study, published in the journal Nature.
Lead researcher Professor Thomas Higham, from Oxford University, said: Previous radiocarbon dates have often underestimated the age of samples from sites associated with Neanderthals because the organic matter was contaminated with modern particles.
‘We used ultrafiltration methods, which purify the extracted collagen from bone, to avoid the risk of modern contamination.
‘This means we can say with more confidence that we have finally resolved the timing of the disappearance of our close cousins, the Neanderthals.
‘Of course the Neanderthals are not completely extinct because some of their genes are in most of us today.’
The study suggests that Neanderthals ¿may have survived in dwindling pockets of Europe¿ for several thousand years before becoming extinct. Here, researchers examine samples found in a Spanish cave
The study suggests that Neanderthals ‘may have survived in dwindling pockets of Europe’ for several thousand years before becoming extinct. Here, researchers examine samples found in a Spanish cave
Because Neanderthals and modern humans overlapped for a significant period, there was ‘ample time’ for interaction and interbreeding, experts said. The heavy jawbone of a Neanderthal is pictured
The study shows that Neanderthals did interbreed over a sustained period of time, the researchers say.
But they are unsure where interbreeding may have happened in Eurasia, or whether it occurred once or several times.
‘Significant interbreeding between Neanderthals and early modern humans had probably already occurred in Asia more than 50,000 years ago, so the dating evidence now indicates that the two populations could have been in some kind of contact with each other for up to 20,000 years, first in Asia then later in Europe,’ Professor Stringer.
‘This may support the idea that some of the changes in Neanderthal and early modern human technology after 60,000 years ago can be attributed to a process of acculturation between these two human groups.’
Professor Higham said: ¿Previous radiocarbon dates have often underestimated the age of samples from sites associated with Neanderthals because the organic matter was contaminated with modern particles.' Here, researchers examine remains of Mousterian and modern human levels in a cave in Cueva Morin
Lead researcher Professor Thomas Higham, from Oxford University, said: ‘Previous radiocarbon dates have often underestimated the age of samples from sites associated with Neanderthals - because the organic matter was contaminated with modern particles.'
Here, researchers examine remains of Mousterian and modern human levels in a cave in Cueva Morin
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