Neanderthals

A 50 thousand year-old love story between humans and Neanderthals

8:37am December 16, 2024

Tens of thousands of years ago, modern humans mated with Neanderthals. But exactly how and when that happened, and who those groups of humans were, was less known. New research adds some clues.

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A Neanderthal skeleton on display in 2018 at the Musee de l'Homme in Paris. Researchers extracted DNA from bones found in Russia to learn more about how their communities were organized.

Genetic sequencing gives us the first-ever look at a Neanderthal clan

12:43pm October 20, 2022

by Geoff Brumfiel

"You know, this image of Neanderthals being brutes, is not quite accurate," says paleogenticist Laurits Skov. "The more we learn about them, the more like humans they appear to be."

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A giant kauri tree grows in Waipoua Forest in Northland, New Zealand. Trees like this one that fell long ago and were preserved for thousands of years are helping researchers discern fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic poles.

Science

Ancient Trees Show When The Earth's Magnetic Field Last Flipped Out

7:10pm February 18, 2021

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A precise record of the last major reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles can be found in ancient trees. Researchers say this event 42,000 years ago had a huge impact on the planet and ancient humans.

Close-up of modern flax cordage showing twisted fiber construction.

Science

The Oldest String Ever Found May Have Been Made By Neanderthals

9:29am April 10, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Bits of twisted plant fibers found on a stone tool show that Neanderthals used sophisticated yarns and cords. It pushes the date of the earliest-known fiber technology way back in time.

Neanderthals are believed to have relied on dangerous close range hunting techniques, using non-projectile weapons like the thrusting spears depicted in this artist's rendition.

Science

Maybe Neanderthals Weren't Quite So Nasty And Brutish

3:44pm November 14, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

New research finds they sustained skull injuries at about the same rate as early modern humans. "I definitely think that it's evidence these guys were not beating each other up," one expert says.

Picture shows what scientists say are Neanderthal cave-paintings inside the Andalusian cave of Ardales, on March 1, 2018. The cave-paintings, found in three caves in Spain, were created between 43,000 and 65,000 years ago, at least 20,000 years before mod

Why Won't The Old Caveman Stereotypes For Neanderthals Die?

9:20am March 05, 2018

by Barbara J. King

New evidence suggests Neanderthals made cave art — and they may also have created religious rituals. It's time to let go of Neanderthal-human "border policing," says anthropologist Barbara J. King.

Left: Dirk Hoffmann and Alistair Pike sample calcite from a calcite crust on top of the red scalariform sign in La Pasiega.Right: Drawing of Panel 78 in La Pasiega by Breuil et al.(1913). The red scalariform (ladder) symbol has a minimum age of 64,000 yea

Health & Safety

Cave Art May Have Been Handiwork Of Neanderthals

5:00pm February 22, 2018

by Christopher Joyce

Scientists say some of the earliest cave art found in Europe was done before humans arrived; thus, Neanderthal art, suggesting that our "brutish" cousins were capable of symbolic thinking.

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An employee of the Natural History Museum in London peeks at a model of a Neanderthal male in his 20s on display for a 2014 exhibition.

Neanderthal Genes Help Shape How Many Modern Humans Look

12:31pm October 05, 2017

by Greta Jochem

Calling someone a Neanderthal because of his coarse manners or brutish looks may seem like fun. But be careful. Neanderthal DNA persists inside many of us.

The skull of La Ferrassie Neanderthal, from France.

Science

Some Plaque To Build A Theory On: Did Humans And Neanderthals Kiss?

7:22am March 11, 2017

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the scientific discovery of Neanderthal dental plaque that indicates they might have kissed humans.

A new study of the dental plaques of three Neanderthals reveals surprising facts about their lives, including what they ate, the diseases that ailed them and how they self-medicated (and smooched). (Above) An illustration of Neanderthals in Spain shows th

Some Neanderthals Were Vegetarian — And They Likely Kissed Our Human Ancestors

2:12pm March 09, 2017

by Rhitu Chatterjee

A new study of the dental plaques of three Neanderthals reveals surprising facts about their lives, including what they ate, the diseases that ailed them and how they self-medicated (and smooched).

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