Neanderthals: Facts, news, features and articles about our extinct human relatives
Latest about Neanderthals

10 unexpected ways Neanderthal DNA affects our health
By Emily Cooke published
Around 2% of the genomes of modern Eurasians contains Neanderthal DNA. Here's how it affects our health.

'More Neanderthal than human': How your health may depend on DNA from our long-lost ancestors
By Emily Cooke published
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Neanderthals and humans mated millennia ago, and their legacy lives on in us today. Here's how.

The mystery of the disappearing Neanderthal Y chromosome
By Emily Cooke published
Non-Africans carry around 2% Neanderthal DNA in their genomes — yet there's one chromosome where DNA from our ancient cousins is nowhere to be found.

Could Neanderthals talk?
By Emily Cooke published
While still the topic of ongoing debate, some scientists think Neanderthals could talk and may have had language.

130,000-year-old Neanderthal-carved bear bone is symbolic art, study argues
By Soumya Sagar published
The carved bear bone is one of the earliest human-made artifacts with "symbolic culture" unearthed in Europe.

Modern Japanese people arose from 3 ancestral groups, 1 of them unknown, DNA study suggests
By Emily Cooke published
Modern Japanese people largely originated from three ancestral groups and carry ancient DNA that may influence their risk of developing certain diseases, genetic analyses suggest.

India's evolutionary past tied to huge migration 50,000 years ago and to now-extinct human relatives
By Emily Cooke published
Modern Indians inherited genes from what is now Tajikistan and a diverse set of DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans, new research reveals.

Ancient humans used cave in Spain as burial spot for 4 millennia, 7,000 bones reveal
By Tom Metcalfe published
The bones show burials from the Neolithic until the Bronze Age, and the researchers think the cave may have even been used by Neanderthals.

'It haunts all our imaginations': Were Neanderthals really like us?
By Ludovic Slimak published
In this adapted extract from The Naked Neanderthal: A New Understanding of the Human Creature, Ludovic Slimak examines how we should view our ancient relatives, the Neanderthals.

'Simply did not work': Mating between Neanderthals and modern humans may have been a product of failed alliances, says archaeologist Ludovic Slimak
By Tia Ghose published
"When two populations are close to one another but they are very distinct — maybe they can have a different language and different traditions, they are in neighboring territories — they are going to exchange their women."
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