Neanderthals - Sites and Debates

The nuclear DNA sequencing of our old human counterpart Neanderthal is in process, a task that even five years ago seemed impossible.

The Neanderthal site of Shanidar Cave is located adjacent to the modern village of Zawi Chemi Shanidar in northern Iraq, on the Zab River, one of the major tributaries of the Tigris. Believed to be an intentional burial.

Archaeological cave site in Israel, with the first nearly complete skeleton of a Neanderthal individual (except the skull).

La Chapelle aux Saintes is an achaeological site in France, consisting of a Neaderthal skeleton, with chert and flint tools and a bison leg on his chest.

The Mousterian industry is an ancient Middle Stone Age method of making stone tools, associated with our hominid relatives the Neanderthals in Europe and both Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis in Africa.

About 35,000 years ago, our distant cousins the Neanderthals died out. What advantage did Homo sapiens have that allowed us to survive this early Darwinian conflict? Researchers working in a rockshelter in the republic of Georgia believe they have part of the answer.

A selected bibliography on Neanderthals, including recent books and journals published in the anthropological and archaeological literature.

Neanderthals were a type of early hominid that lived on the planet earth between about 100,000 to 30,000 years ago.

A study guide to our distant cousins, the Neanderthals, including an overview, important facts, archaeological sites, suggestions for further reading and study questions.

The Out of Africa or African Replacement Hypothesis argues that every living human being is descended from a small group in Africa.