Neanderthals died out earlier than scientists initially thought. According to a new fossil dating study published on Wednesday in the journal "Nature", Neanderthals died out earlier, about 10,000 years that is, than previously thought. The new fossil dating also reportedly suggests that modern humans in Europe have had a role in pushing the Stone Age people into extinction.
According to the New York Times, Neanderthals have begun spreading across Europe and Asia about 200,000 years ago. Until now, it had been unclear as to how their species died out and gave way to modern humans.
Scholars have long been wondering about the Neanderthals' disappearance and when, reports Newser. In recent estimates, it had been 30,000 years ago. However, the new data which used sophisticated radiocarbon dating, suggests that Neanderthals died out earlier, with their decline happening between 40,000 and 45,000 years ago.
According to National Geographic, scholars have also wondered whether they disappeared on their own, or Europe's first modern human migrants had a hand in the extinction of our ancient cousins.
The NY Times says that this new analysis of Neanderthal sites from Spain to Russia shows the most definitive answer yet.
Tom Higham, deputy director of the radiocarbon accelerator unit of the United Kingdom's University of Oxford and author of the study published in the journal "Nature" said, "When did the Neanderthals disappear, and why? That has always been the big question."
His research not only encouraged the idea that Neanderthals died out earlier than thought, but also the idea that the arrival of Europe's first modern human played a role in their disappearance.
The new fossil dating suggests Neanderthals died out earlier in isolated patches across western Europe, with small areas overlapping in different varieties for thousands of years and because of the arrival sites of the first modern humans.
NatGeo says that Neanderthals are big-brained and thick-boned hunters who at one time were situated from Spain to Siberia. The new fossil records dating more than 230,000 years ago were the first signs that the Neanderthals numbers have diminished about 30,000 years ago.
The study shows evidence that Neanderthals died out earlier than some scientists have suggested. It also thinned down the time that Neanderthals and modern humans met in Europe.
Higham said, "After that, we don't think there are any Neanderthals on the continent anymore."
The new finding on the study which proved Neanderthals died out earlier utilized 196 samples from animal bones, shells, and charcoal. These had been taken from 40 Neanderthal cave sites from Gibraltar to the Caucasus. They mostly came from prey species such as deer, bison, and mammoth, of which bones' had cut marks which were the kind of stone blade that Neanderthals used.
Higham and his colleagues took advantage of radiocarbon dating in testing the samples from the 40 sites, which were also mostly in Western Europe.
The dated bones suggest that Neanderthals decreased in population 50,000 years ago and left them isolated in patches. This was also about the time early modern humans arrived.
Higham said, "Some previously dated bones were only loosely associated with Neanderthals. We wanted ones we were sure they had handled."
According to the NY Times, the findings which suggest the Neanderthals died out earlier also suppose that modern humans and our ancient cousins co-existed in neighboring regions for up to several thousand years. However, this doesn't mean they have intermingled in the same locales.
Meanwhile, it is believed that competitive pressure from early Europeans who hunted the same prey species may have contributed to the isolation of the Neanderthals, which in turn hastened their extinction.
Anthropologists have reportedly been figuring out what occurred when the two groups encountered each other.
Some scientists say the new arrivals may have begun the era of stone tool use, but a recent analysis of Neanderthal DNA shows Neanderthals and modern humans have interbred. 1 to 4 percent of non-Africans today have genomes with Neanderthal origins, reports the NY Times.
Another factor which may have had Neanderthals died out earlier is the fact that a large volcano erupted in Italy around the time of Neanderthal, though this may have reportedly hurt both populations. A cooling climate around 40,000 years ago in Europe may also have had a role in the decline of Neaderthals' numbers.
Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London said, the cooling climate may have "delivered the coup de grâce to a Neanderthal population that was already low in numbers and genetic diversity, and trying to cope with economic competition from incoming groups of Homo sapiens."
According to Newser, some scientists were convinced that Neanderthals died out earlier even if mainly tools were tested in the study rather than Neanderthal bones. However, some paleontologists disagree about whether the tools were from the Neanderthals or the early humans.
Paleontologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis was critical and reportedly called parts of the study that Neanderthals died out earlier than thought was "wrong". He said that some of the samples were not from Neanderthal layers at cave sites, according to NatGeo.
So far, the findings indicate that though the Neanderthals died out earlier than thought, they did not disappear all at once.
Higham said, "I think we'll see patchy disappearance prior to extinction."
Neanderthals died out earlier than thought and paleontologist Katerina Harvati of Germany's University of Tuebingen said the more accurate dating at Neanderthal sites in recent years which pushed back the 30,000-year date for Neanderthal extinction makes the new study appear more reasonable.
She said by email, "In my view this work represents the foundation of a uniform chronological framework for Neanderthal studies."
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