Yesterday's WSJ and NY Times had very interesting columns on the most recent Neanderthal research and (tentative) conclusions. I love reading these kinds of coumns.
First, a Wall Street Journal short video, and then the NY Times column. Funny that they have almost opposed headline conclusions!
Here's the Times:
Neanderthals in Europe Died Out Thousands of Years Sooner Than Some Thought, Study Says
Neanderthals, our heavy-browed relatives, spread out across Europe and Asia about 200,000 years ago. But when did they die out, giving way to modern humans?
A new analysis of Neanderthal sites from Spain to Russia provides the most definitive answer yet: about 40,000 years ago, at least in Europe.
That is thousands of years earlier than some scientists have suggested, and it narrows the period that Neanderthals and modern humans overlapped in Europe.
“After that, we don’t think there are any Neanderthals on the continent anymore,” said Thomas Higham, the deputy director of the radiocarbon accelerator unit at the University of Oxford in England.
On the other hand, the dating also argues against the view that modern humans overwhelmed the Neanderthals as soon they arrived in Europe. While modern humans and Neanderthals do not appear to have intermingled in the same locales, the findings suggest they co-existed in neighboring regions for up to several thousand years.
Of course, hit the link for the rest ot the not very long column. Very interesting stuff (if you like cave men!). We non-African humans carry from 1-4% of Neanderthal DNA. how 'bout that!
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