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Modern humans greater threat to Neanderthals than weather
Scientists have long theorized that modern humans crowded out the Neanderthal, and now evidence suggests it may be true.
Mon, Jul 23 2012 at 3:10 PM
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THING OF THE PAST: Harald Meller reaches out to touch a model of a Neanderthal in a German museum. (Photo: ZUMA Press)
WASHINGTON — Modern humans were likely a greater threat to the Neanderthals than major natural events like extreme cold weather or volcanoes, according to British-led research released on July 23.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was based on an analysis of volcanic ash that showed the largest known eruption in Europe came after traces of the Neanderthals had largely disappeared.
Researchers studied the remnants of ash from the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption about 40,000 years ago in sites in Greece, the Aegean Sea, Libya, and four central European caves.
"Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe," said the study.
"We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters."
Neanderthals lived in parts of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East for up to 300,000 years but appear to have vanished some 40,000 years ago. Why they died out is a matter of sharp debate.
Earlier theories have hypothesized that these upright but stooped cavemen were crowded out by modern humans, and that their demise may have been hastened by a series of harsh winters.
Copyright 2012 AFP Global Edition
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I saw previous reports that said the Neanderthals stone tools were sourced from sites within 50 miles of the caves. Nearby modern humans had stone sourced from as much as 150 miles away. This suggests that the modern humans also gathered food from this greater area. This alone, over time, would yield greater flexiblity when disruptions occured to the local food supply.