Neanderthal

Hundreds of stone artifacts and 54,000-year-old human teeth have been found in a rock shelter in the south of France, pushing back evidence for Homo sapiens wielding the bow and arrow in Europe by 10,000 years.The shelter—Grotte Mandrin, near the Rhône River valley—has yielded 852 artifacts, including cut stone points, blades, and flakes, which indicate to researchers that projectile weapons were being used by ancient humans there. The team’s study is published today in Science Advances, and it builds on a paper published…

Neanderthals were a species of archaic humans that lived in Europe and Asia from around 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.The remains of hunted animals at Combe-Grenal, France, showed that they were consistently sourced from open tundra-like habitats.A study conducted by Emilie Berlioz of CNRS/Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès and colleagues, and published in the journal PLOS ONE, has found that Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal, France, favored hunting in open environments and maintained this strategy despite periods of climatic…

Cut marks on the heel bone of a male straight-tusked elephant, which was about 50 years old when it died.Photo: Wil Roebroeks, Leiden UniversityHistorical finds of elephant remains alongside stone tools have long prompted speculation among researchers that early humans or other hominin species may have relied on the massive mammals for food.Now, a team of researchers has determined that Neanderthals in Europe were taking down elephants and methodically butchering them, yielding food stores that would have lasted…

Steppe bison cranium from Level 3. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01503-7 A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across Spain, working with one colleague from Portugal and another from Austria, has discovered a large number of animal skulls placed by Neanderthals in Spanish cave more than 40,000 years ago. …

From dental facets to paleoecological reconstructions. Credit: Emilie Berlioz, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal (France) preferred to hunt in open environments, and their hunting strategies did not alter during periods of climatic change, according to a study published in PLOS ONE by Emilie Berlioz of the CNRS/Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France, and colleagues, as part of…

General view of the site with hominid footprints on the beach of Matalascañas, Huelva (Spain). Credit: E. Mayoral, Author provided A little over a year ago we reported on a large area at the foot of the Asperillo cliff, on the coast of the Doñana Natural Area in Huelva, Spain. There, along with numerous animal footprints, other footprints had been found—those of hominids. …

(left to right) archaeologists Letty Ingrey, Dr Matt Pope, Dr Chantal Conneller and volunteer Pippa Kergozou trek across the Violet Bank. Credit: Melissa Rodrigues Photography Submerged below the waves of the English Channel lies an important scientific record of undiscovered Neanderthal artifacts dating back to the last ice age. Collecting them from beneath the channel's cold waters is no easy feat, but UCL researchers found a…

The Alcobaça site in Brazil, where skeletal remains were discovered.Photo: Henry Lavalle, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and Ana Nascimento, Universidade Federal Rural de PernambucoScientists investigating the genomes of ancient South Americans have made a surprising discovery: the presence of DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans, two species of humans that are now extinct. The findings complicate our understanding of ancient South Americans and their ancestries.01:25Randall Park's Favorite SuperheroesMonday…

Human remains from Kendrick’s Cave, from which DNA was recently extracted.Image: R. StevensResearchers investigating ancient remains found in England and Wales have determined that they contain some of the oldest human DNA ever obtained in the United Kingdom. The DNA indicates Britain was occupied by two unrelated groups, which the scientists believe migrated to the island at the end of the last ice age. 01:08Ernie Hudson | First FandomsFriday 2:04PM“Finding the two ancestries so close in time in Britain, only a…

Researchers looked at DNA extracted from the remains of 13 Neanderthals that lived in Asia about 54,000 years ago and found some surprising relationships among them.Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were a group of hominins that lived alongside and interbred with anatomically modern humans until their disappearance around 40,000 years ago. Recognizable for their barrel chests, stocky builds, and pronounced brows, Neanderthals are thought to have been bred out of existence; most everyone walking around today has…