Latest Neanderthal Stories

Researchers have new evidence that suggest Neanderthals died out much earlier than previously thought, and possibly before modern humans arrived. Carbon-dated Neanderthal remains from a cave in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in Russia were found to be 10,000 years older than previous research had suggested. The new evidence contradicts the popular theory that Neanderthals and modern humans interacted for thousands of years before the archaic species became extinct. Instead, the...

A new study shows clear evidence that our ancient human ancestors in Europe learned to control fire -- one of the most important milestones on the path to civilization -- some 400,000 years ago.The findings are another indication that Neanderthals weren't simply dimwitted brutes, as often portrayed, and were in fact able to thrive in Europe's northern latitudes without the use of fire.  The researchers suggested that a highly active lifestyle, along with a diet high in protein, might have...

Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam. Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Excavated at Qesem...

Puzzled scientists are debating if the shrinking brains of humans is a sign we are growing dumber or that evolution is making the key motor leaner and more efficient. The average size of modern human brains has decreased about 10 percent during the last 30,000 years -- from 1,500 to 1,359 cubic centimeters, the size of a tennis ball, reports the AFP news agency.The brains of females, which are on average smaller than those of men, have also experienced an equivalent drop in size. These...

Can't help molding some snow into a ball and hurling it or tossing a stone as far into a lake as you can? New research from Indiana University and the University of Wyoming shows how humans, unlike any other species on Earth, readily learn to throw long distances. This research also suggests that this unique evolutionary trait is entangled with language development in a way critical to our very existence.The study, appearing online Jan. 14 in the journal "Evolution and Human...

A study published this week says that dying young was not the reason Neanderthals went extinct, adding that that early modern humans had about the same life expectancy as their hairier kin. Scientists have been puzzled over why the Neanderthals disappeared just as modern humans were making huge gains and moving into new parts of Africa and Europe, and some have speculated that a difference in longevity may have been the reason. The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Scientists announced this week the discovery that Neanderthals, the prehistoric cousins of humans, ate grains and vegetables as well as meat, cooking them over fire in the same way early homo sapiens did. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), challenges a well-established theory that Neanderthals' over reliance on meat contributed to their extinction about 30,000 years ago. A team of researchers found grains from different plants, including...

Scientists have recovered the DNA code of a human relative discovered recently in Siberia, which found that the relative roamed far from the cave that holds its only known remains. Scientists found evidence that these "Denisovans" from over 30,000 years ago ranged all across Asia.  They apparently interbred with the ancestors of people that now live in Melanesia. There is no sign that Denisovans mingled with ancestors of people living in Eurasia, which made the connection between...

Archaeologists in Spain have discovered the remains of a possible family of 12 Neanderthals who were killed 49,000 years ago. The researchers say that markings on the bones show the unmistakable signs of cannibal activity, with the group probably being killed by their peers. The remains were found in a cave in the Asturias region of Northern Spain.  Scientists believe that the six adults and six children who were found in a cave probably lived and died on the surface before the ground...

A new analysis of teeth from 11 Neanderthal and early human fossils shows that modern humans are slower than our ancestors to reach full maturity.The findings also suggest that modern kids' lengthy childhoods are a relatively recent phenomenon unique to our own species, and may even have given early humans an evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals.The study is the latest to demonstrate the small, but vital, differences in early development between modern humans and Neanderthals, who became...