All articles tagged with #neanderthals
A study using stone-flake analysis and luminosity dating of sites near Jubbah in the Nefud Desert places Neanderthal occupation in present-day Saudi Arabia around 55,000 years ago, suggesting a much wider and more adaptable range into Arabia as wetter, greener conditions prevailed; there are no bones or DNA found, so conclusions rely on artefact morphology and statistical comparisons to other sites.
A study of stone tools from JKF-1 beside an ancient lake near Jubbah, Saudi Arabia, suggests Neanderthals inhabited the Arabian interior about 55,000 years ago—far south of where they were previously thought to live. By analyzing hundreds of tool flakes and comparing them to Neanderthal and Homo sapiens patterns, and dating the sediments with optically stimulated luminescence, researchers find evidence that Neanderthals made the JKF-1 tools. The date corresponds to a wetter period with a refilling lake, which could have drawn Neanderthals into the desert interior. No Neanderthal bones have been found in Arabia, so the evidence remains indirect and subject to further confirmation.
A Cell study shows a Neanderthal variant of the growth hormone receptor entered the modern human gene pool about 47,000 years ago, boosting how cells respond to growth hormone. People with one copy may gain around 270 grams of extra muscle per copy, while two copies could add over 0.5 kg (about 1.2 pounds). The variant now appears in roughly 10% of people, with higher frequencies in Southern and Southeast Asian populations and little to none in those of African ancestry. It may also subtly affect jaw shape and tooth roots, and effects seem to emerge during puberty when growth hormone rises, indicating it's not the sole reason Neanderthals were robust but a piece of the puzzle.
Researchers report a Neanderthal variant of the growth hormone receptor gene that enhances how modern humans respond to growth hormone. Interbreeding occurred roughly 47,000 years ago, and the variant now appears in about 10% of people (up to ~25% in certain Asian populations) with little presence in Africans. In lab tests, cells bearing the Neanderthal receptor multiplied ~40% more when exposed to growth hormone, translating to roughly 270 grams of extra muscle per copy (more than a kilogram with two copies). The effect seems to emerge mainly during puberty and is a subtle contributor to body form, not a sole explanation for Neanderthal robustness.
A TRACE-based analysis of 503 genomes found about 0.5–1.1% of human DNA from a mysterious, unsequenced archaic lineage—present across populations including Africans and Oceanians—suggesting ancient interbreeding beyond Neanderthals and Denisovans, though the exact identity of this ghost lineage remains unknown.
Archaeologists at Abri des Merveilles in Dordogne, France uncovered Neanderthal rock crystal scrapers dating roughly 45,000–80,000 years ago, including a transparent, yellow-tinged tool that may have served as a scraper and point. The find, among a small group of quartz tools made by Neanderthals, suggests they created on-site, displayed discernment in material and form, and possessed an aesthetic sense that challenged early views of Neanderthals as uncreative.
UC Berkeley researchers identified DNA segments in modern humans that come from two previously unknown ancestral lineages: a 'ghost' lineage that interbred in Africa more than 50,000 years ago and now accounts for about 1% of everyone’s genome, and a 'super-archaic' lineage that split from other hominins around 1.8 million years ago and later mixed with Denisovans in Eurasia, leaving traces in modern DNA. The findings suggest human evolution involved repeated admixture with multiple unknown groups, not just Neanderthals and Denisovans.
A Turkish cave dig at Üçağızlı II shows Neanderthals (from ~77,000 years ago) and early modern humans (from ~59,000 years ago) occupied the site and maintained similar stone tools, hunting practices, and ornamental shells like Columbella rustica for as long as 20,000 years, suggesting regular cultural exchange in the Levant, even though remains weren’t found in the same sediment layer; dating was done via optically stimulated luminescence and the findings were published in PNAS.
A study of Üçağızlı II Cave in southern Türkiye finds Neanderthals and modern humans cohabiting and sharing cultural practices—tools, hunting strategies, and a symbolic mollusk shell—over more than 20,000 years, suggesting a deep exchange of knowledge during their coexistence in Eurasia.
Excavations at the Üçağızlı II cave in southern Turkey find Neanderthals and Homo sapiens sharing cultural habits, including similar Mousterian tools, hunting practices, and the transport of Columbella rustica shells found in both species’ layers, suggesting intergroup interaction and long‑standing cultural continuity despite a major migration period; Neanderthals inhabited the site 77,000–59,000 years ago, followed by Homo sapiens 59,000–47,000 years ago, with researchers noting a more complex, locally rooted Mousterian tradition than previously thought.
Archaeologists analyzing Üçağızlı II Cave on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast found Neanderthals (roughly 77,000–59,000 years ago) and later Homo sapiens (roughly 59,000–47,000 years ago) left strikingly similar hunting strategies, stone-tool technologies, and even shell ornaments, suggesting long-term cultural continuity and likely information exchange between the two groups in the Levant corridor. The findings, published in PNAS, imply that Neanderthals and early modern humans shared cultural practices in the region, rather than undergoing a clear cultural turnover despite biological turnover.
The article explains how the Mount Toba eruption about 70,000 years ago may have reduced the human population to around 1,000 breeding individuals, triggering a long bottleneck and global climate cooling, followed by later events like the Younger Dryas that further affected populations before the Holocene brought agriculture and the rise of modern society.
A Leiden-led study analyzed 27 Neanderthal genomes from France and Belgium, including a Les Cottés individual, revealing diverse, interconnected communities with distinct ancestral lineages and no evidence of recent contact with modern humans.
A new study of Neanderthal DNA from Belgium and France shows late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe were more genetically diverse and faced little inbreeding, existing as a large, interconnected population split into at least four groups. The genome from a high-quality Neanderthal sequence revealed no evidence of recent Neanderthal–modern human mating in these samples, suggesting that reduced genetic diversity and inbreeding were not the primary drivers of Neanderthal extinction. The findings imply multiple interconnected Neanderthal populations persisted across the region, challenging the idea that inbreeding alone doomed them.
A Nature study analyzing genomes from 27 Neanderthals in Belgium and France—including a high-quality GN1 genome from Goyet—finds these late groups were genetically diverse and broadly connected across western Europe. The results challenge views of isolated, inbred populations and suggest regular long‑distance contact, with no evidence of recent interbreeding with modern humans in northwestern Europe. The data indicate a network of interconnected communities persisting until near the Neanderthals’ extinction around 52,500 years ago, while some older lineages persisted alongside newer ones.