Homo neanderthalensis evolved in Europe 300,000 years ago, spread out across the continent, and persevered through the great climatic shifts of the Upper and Middle Paleolithic, before abruptly being replaced by Homo sapiens in the archaeological record around 40,000 years ago. Since the first Neanderthal remains were excavated from a limestone quarry in Germany’s Neander Valley in the middle of the 19th century, the question of how these remarkable hominids met their demise has engaged the imagination of archaeologists and laypeople alike. This paper seeks to answer two questions. First, to what extend did humans and Neanderthals interbreed during their period of coexistence? Second, what factors gave human beings migrating into Europe from
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While this “hybrid theory” has been largely abandoned in its stronger forms, over the past twenty years there has been mounting evidence that Neanderthals did interbreed with humans and contribute to the gene pool of Eurasian populations. Duarte et al. (1999) reported the discovery of a possible 25,000 year old Human-Neanderthal hybrid at Abrigo do Lagar Velho on the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers found a young child (3.5-5 years) buried with pierced shell and red ochre. Although the specimen was mostly human, its cranium and mandible had features typical of Neanderthals, suggesting an admixture of the two species. Similarly, Soficaru, Doboş, and Trinkaus (2006) analyzed 30,000 year old human remains from Muierii, Romania and found that they had a number of features characteristics of Neanderthals, including a low frontal arc, a large occipital bun, and a high coronoid process. The authors interpreted this to be evidence of a hybrid between Neanderthals and humans. Although some scholars cast doubt on these interpretations, recent genetic evidence has bolstered their credibility. Green et al. (2010) examined the nuclear DNA sequences of Neanderthals and found that they share significantly more polymorphisms with the DNA of modern humans in Eurasia than with modern humans in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study estimated that European owe 1–4% of their genetic heritage to Neanderthals. Prüfer et al. (2014) examined a high-quality genome sequence of a Neanderthal woman from Siberia and narrowed that estimate to 1.5–2.1%. However, other studies have argued that the polymorphisms shared by Neanderthals and modern humans in Eurasia can be accounted for by factors like population structure (Eriksson and Manica, 2012). Taken together, current findings provide significant, if contested support for the idea that Neanderthal passed something of their genetic
While this “hybrid theory” has been largely abandoned in its stronger forms, over the past twenty years there has been mounting evidence that Neanderthals did interbreed with humans and contribute to the gene pool of Eurasian populations. Duarte et al. (1999) reported the discovery of a possible 25,000 year old Human-Neanderthal hybrid at Abrigo do Lagar Velho on the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers found a young child (3.5-5 years) buried with pierced shell and red ochre. Although the specimen was mostly human, its cranium and mandible had features typical of Neanderthals, suggesting an admixture of the two species. Similarly, Soficaru, Doboş, and Trinkaus (2006) analyzed 30,000 year old human remains from Muierii, Romania and found that they had a number of features characteristics of Neanderthals, including a low frontal arc, a large occipital bun, and a high coronoid process. The authors interpreted this to be evidence of a hybrid between Neanderthals and humans. Although some scholars cast doubt on these interpretations, recent genetic evidence has bolstered their credibility. Green et al. (2010) examined the nuclear DNA sequences of Neanderthals and found that they share significantly more polymorphisms with the DNA of modern humans in Eurasia than with modern humans in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study estimated that European owe 1–4% of their genetic heritage to Neanderthals. Prüfer et al. (2014) examined a high-quality genome sequence of a Neanderthal woman from Siberia and narrowed that estimate to 1.5–2.1%. However, other studies have argued that the polymorphisms shared by Neanderthals and modern humans in Eurasia can be accounted for by factors like population structure (Eriksson and Manica, 2012). Taken together, current findings provide significant, if contested support for the idea that Neanderthal passed something of their genetic