New Research Sheds Light on Neanderthal Extinction: How Modern Humans May Have Contributed

An exhibit depicts the life of a Neanderthal family in the new Neanderthal Museum in the northern town of Krapina, Croatia.Photo byNikola Solic/Reuters

Researchers have been exploring the complex factors contributing to the extinction of Neanderthals around 34,000 years ago, and now they are getting closer to solving the mystery, especially as it relates to the role that ‘modern humans’ might have played in it. 

Neanderthals are a resilient species that thrived for nearly 500,000 years and adapted to harsh environments across Eurasia. Our understanding of them began in 1856 when a skull was found in Germany's Neander Valley, marking them as a distinct species. Despite facing significant challenges such as isolation in small groups and catastrophic events like the Phlegraean Fields eruption (a large caldera volcano west of Naples, Italy), which disrupted food chains in the Mediterranean, they persevered. 

First Painters May Have Been Neanderthal, Not Human.Photo byDe Agostini/Getty Images

Contrary to early depictions of Neanderthals as brutish beings (take the common insult of calling someone a 'Neanderthal'), they exhibited advanced behaviors that command respect. Their tool-making skills, body decoration, burial rituals, and art all point to a level of complexity that challenges the stereotype of them as primitive.

However, their isolated communities may have limited their cultural evolution, hindering their ability to innovate compared to the more modern human groups. This disparity in cultural exchange and technological advancement may have further disadvantaged Neanderthals. Recent research suggests that instead of a single cause for their extinction, a combination of factors contributed to their disappearance, including environmental changes, competition, and their interactions with modern humans. 

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Co-Existed in France and Spain for at least 1,400 Years.Photo byUniversity of Utah via kued.org.

Archaeological evidence shows that Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for thousands of years, raising questions about the extent to which modern humans contributed to their eventual demise. Studies have shown that Neanderthals and modern humans even interbred, leading to modern humans carrying Neanderthal DNA. Some researchers propose that Neanderthals gradually assimilated into modern human populations, losing their distinct identity. 

However, the competition for resources, coupled with potential violence and disease transmission, may have played a role in their demise. Modern humans' cognitive and technological advantages—greater brain neuron density and connectivity—likely gave them an edge in hunting and foraging. Evidence of injuries on Neanderthal skeletons suggests encounters with violence. Neanderthals' small isolated communities may have limited their cultural evolution, hindering their ability to innovate compared to the more interconnected modern human groups.

Neanderthal skull found in St. Césaire, France, had a fracture wound inflicted with a sharp implement.Photo byRaphael GAILLARDE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The surge in recent research and studies is proving that the extinction of Neanderthals can't be attributed to a singular cause but rather resulted from a complex interplay of environmental pressures, genetic disadvantages, competition with modern humans, and potential intergroup dynamics. Neanderthals did not share a cohesive fate; some groups faced extinction, while others may have integrated with early modern humans. The ongoing research continues to reveal the nuanced interactions that defined the relationship between these two closely related species, contributing to our understanding of human evolution.