These relatives of ours lived in Eurasia for more than 300,000 years. They were expert toolmakers, using materials like stone, wood, and animal bone. They were also skilled hunters and foragers, and may even have created cave art. So what caused the decline and disappearance of their population?
Well, in a way…it could’ve been us. But maybe not in the way you might’ve heard.
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Thanks to Julio Lacerda ( and Fabrizio De Rossi ( for the excellent reconstructions of Neanderthals and ancient Humans!
To learn more about what genes our Neanderthal relatives passed down to us, check out our episode, “When We Met Other Human Species”:
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