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Scientists Find 46,000-Year-Old Bone Fragments in a Cave, Leading to Groundbreaking Discovery
Six ancient bone fragments found in a Spanish cave belonged to a male Neanderthal, and their well-preserved DNA could reveal new details about his life
75,000 years ago, this Neanderthal was stabbed with a spear
Mercy killing or murder? The prehistoric scene reveals the highs and lows of hominin life.
Neanderthals Had a Hidden World of Wooden Tools. Scientists Just Found Rare Evidence of It
An unusual club, wooden spears, and possible household objects.
'News reports tweaked the science to speak to contemporary anxieties': How Neanderthal extinction is a projection of our own, modern fears
In this excerpt from "Neanderthals Among Us," author Peter Sahlins looks at the way Neanderthal extinction theories are often engrained with our own societal fears.
Neanderthal woodworking was far more advanced than we thought, new study shows
Nearly 600 wooden remains from Abric Romaní show Neanderthals used wood for spears and shelter structures between 62,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Are your muscles thanks to a 47,000-year-old gene? Scientists stunned by discovery - Futura-Sciences
A genetic handshake across millennia The interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans didn’t just give anthropologists lots to write about—it left functional traces in our very DNA. An August 5th study published in the journal Current Biology shines a spotlight on one especially eye-catching legacy: a variant of the gene...
Scientists Just Found Another Way Neanderthals Were Built Tougher Than Us
A new study found Neanderthals had wider, sturdier heel bones, while modern footwear and sedentary life may have made our feet less rugged.
Your dislike of eating bugs may be 9,000 years old
Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only occasionally, while Neanderthals may have consumed them much more regularly. Populations near the tropics also retained genes that make insect exoskeletons easier to digest.
Rock crystal scraper: 45,000-year-old Neanderthal tool that shows they had an 'eye for beauty of form and color'
A chance find of rare rock crystal tools a century ago paved the way for a better understanding of Neanderthals today.
Could we ever clone Neanderthals?
The answer involves ancient DNA, dire wolves, and a whole bunch of bioethics.
Neanderthals and modern humans may have shared culture 59,000 years ago in Turkey, study finds
Fossils, stone tools and seashells in Turkey show that Neanderthals and the Homo sapiens who moved in later had the same hunting strategies and symbolic traditions even without overlapping at the site, suggesting they may have shared information.
New DNA study of Neanderthals bolsters suspicions of human-driven extinction
Analysis of 27 genomes reveals more diverse, better-connected populations and challenges the idea that genetic decline caused their disappearance
Ancient DNA shared with Neanderthals may explain human language
A tiny set of ancient genetic “switches” may have played a surprisingly large role in making human language possible. Researchers found that these DNA regions, which act like volume controls for genes involved in brain development, have an outsized influence on language ability despite making up less than 0.1% of the genome.
What scientists just uncovered about Neanderthals rewrites everything we thought we knew - Futura-Sciences
How did Neanderthals appear—and disappear? “How did Neanderthals appear? And how did they disappear?” To this day, these remain two of the big, unanswered mysteries in human evolution. For both questions, scientists have long suspected that a drop in genetic diversity may have played a role. Thanks to the study...
Neanderthal Dentistry, and the Scientist Glad Not to Have Experienced It
The prehistoric hominins “apparently were very adept at what we would consider invasive medicine,” said the anthropologist John Olsen.
Neanderthals dined on shellfish much earlier than humans
Many of their harvesting techniques are similar to ones used today.
Science news this week: PCOS has a new name, Neanderthals were the world's oldest dentists, and the first nuclear bomb explosion spawned an 'alien' crystal
May 16, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Who are the Japanese? Huge DNA discovery rewrites history
Scientists analyzing the genomes of thousands of people across Japan discovered evidence for a previously overlooked third ancestral group, challenging the long-accepted “dual origins” theory. The newly identified ancestry appears linked to the ancient Emishi people of northeastern Japan. Researchers also uncovered inherited Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA connected to conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The Earliest Known Dentistry Wasn't Done By Our Species
"A novel, highly specialized task."
'Exceptional' drilled tooth reveals Neanderthals practiced dentistry in Siberia 60,000 years ago
A hole found in a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth was likely made by a stone drill, making the discovery the oldest evidence of intentional dentistry to date.
Neanderthal ‘dentists’ treated cavities 59,000 years ago
A molar points to some sophisticated dental work performed by our extinct cousins.
Protein reveals the oldest episode of sex and procreation among human species
Chinese scientists obtain the first molecular evidence of interbreeding between our ancestor ‘Homo erectus’ and the Denisovans, relatives of the Neanderthals
Forget the caveman myth: Neanderthal brains challenge what we thought we knew
We appear to have more in common with our Neanderthal cousins than outward appearances would suggest. New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that ...
Brain Scans Reveal a Surprise About Neanderthal Intelligence
There's more that unites us.
Scientists think they finally know why Neanderthals vanished
A new study suggests Neanderthals didn’t go extinct simply because of climate change or competition with Homo sapiens. Instead, the key difference may have been social connectivity—Homo sapiens formed stronger, more flexible networks that helped them survive environmental shocks. Neanderthals had connections too, but they were more fragile and regionally limited. This made them less resilient as conditions became increasingly unpredictable.
Neanderthals' brains weren't to blame for their demise, new study suggests
Researchers examining the brains of living people found that they differed more substantially than Neanderthals' brains differed from modern humans', calling into question the reason our evolutionary cousins mysteriously disappeared.
Ancient DNA reveals a hidden Neanderthal group frozen in time
A remarkable genetic breakthrough has uncovered what may be one of the clearest snapshots yet of a Neanderthal “community” living together 100,000 years ago in what is now Poland. The findings reveal that these individuals shared genetic ties with Neanderthals spread across Europe and the Caucasus, hinting at widespread ancient lineages that later disappeared.
Neanderthal Babies Were Apparently Built Different and Reached Toddler Size in Only Six Months
A 50,000-year-old infant skeleton reveals our extinct cousins grew up surprisingly fast to survive
Neandertals may have hunted and eaten outsiders, chilling cannibalism study finds
A cave in Belgium has revealed unsettling evidence that Neandertals selectively cannibalized outsiders, focusing on women and children. The victims weren’t from the local group and appear to have been treated like prey, with bones butchered for meat and marrow. This suggests the behavior wasn’t ritual, but practical—or possibly linked to intergroup conflict. The discovery paints a darker, more complex picture of Neandertal life during their final millennia.
110,000-year-old discovery rewrites human history: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens worked together
The first-ever published research on Tinshemet Cave reveals that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the mid-Middle Paleolithic Levant not only coexisted but actively interacted, sharing technology, lifestyles, and burial customs. These interactions fostered cultural exchange, social complexity, and behavioral innovations, such as formal burial practices and the symbolic use of ochre for decoration. The findings suggest that human connections, rather than isolation, were key drivers of technological and cultural advancements, highlighting the Levant as a crucial crossroads in early human history.
Neanderthals hunted giant elephants in Europe
125,000-year-old fossils and weapons confirm the first butchering site of its kind.
'Major disruption in Neanderthal history': 65,000 years ago, all Neanderthals in Europe died out except for one lineage
The last Neanderthals to survive in Europe came from a single lineage that survived the worst period of the ice age, ancient DNA reveals.
Scientists Sequenced the DNA of the ‘Last Neanderthal’—and It Alters Human History
Discover new clues about how our ancient relatives disappeared from time.
What Your DNA Reveals About the Sex Life of Neanderthals
Most people alive today carry fragments of Neanderthal DNA in their genome. Now scientists are gaining a more intimate understanding of the ancient encounters that put it there.
A genetic analysis reveals new details on ancient couplings between humans and Neanderthals
Ancient linkups may have happened more frequently between female humans and male Neanderthals, according to an new genetic analysis.
Research suggests mating direction bias between Neanderthals and humans
Scientists say DNA evidence indicates male Neanderthals and human females interbred more often than opposite
Humans and Neanderthals interbred — but it was mostly male Neanderthals and female humans who coupled up, study finds
A preference for pairings between male Neanderthals and female Homo sapiens may answer the question of why there are "Neanderthal deserts" in human chromosomes.
Neanderthal males and human females had babies together, ancient DNA reveals
When ancient humans mated, dad was a Neanderthal, mom was Homo sapiens.
Neanderthals Mysteriously Collected Horned Skulls in a Cave, But Why?
Hominids are weird.
Last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals possibly found in Casablanca, Morocco
A collection of bones from Casablanca holds important new clues to the origins of modern humans and Neanderthals.
The Year in Neanderthal Discoveries
They drew with crayons, possibly fed on maggots and maybe even kissed us: Forty millenniums later, our ancient human cousins continued to make news.
10 things we learned about Neanderthals in 2025
Findings about our extinct relatives, the Neanderthals, continue to surprise us, especially those from 2025.
Science news this week: Neanderthals made fire, orcas and dolphins team up, and the 'Star of Bethlehem' explored
Dec. 13, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
BBC Audio | BBC Inside Science | Would our ancestors have benefited from early neanderthals making fire?
New evidence shows that early neanderthals made fire 350 thousand years before we thought.
Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds
LONDON (AP) — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France
Neanderthals harnessed fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought
'This is the most remarkable discovery of my career.’