One of the great mysteries of human evolution is the intermediate step represented by the presence of Neanderthals for thousands of years. The question is whether their disappearance is linked to external factors such as climate change or adverse environmental conditions, or to biological or cultural characteristics that were unfavorable compared to Homo sapiens
A decade ago, a group of archaeologists discovered the remains of a Neanderthal in the Grotte Mandrin cave in France. Although the data extracted concluded that the bones were more than 40,000 years old, the characteristics were more similar to those of Neanderthals from 100,000 years ago.
An enigma that, after many years of study, now has an explanation. Ludovic Slimak, a researcher at the University of Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, said that ‘Thorin’, the name given to this Neanderthal, belonged to a group that was more than 50,000 years without exchanging genes with other populations
Slimak: “These two populations lived ten days apart and coexisted in complete ignorance of each other”
“We have, therefore, 50 millennia during which two Neanderthal populations, who lived about ten days’ walk from each other, coexisted in complete ignorance of each other. This would be unimaginable for a sapiens and reveals that Neanderthals must have biologically conceived our world very differently from us,” said the expert
In this way, one of the great historical myths that always pointed to a very limited genetic diversity on the part of the Neanderthals is put to rest. Tharsika Vimala, from the University of Copenhagen, points out that contact between populations is key to adaptability to the environment, as well as for the exchange of knowledge and social and technological developments. Therefore, there was a remarkable variety, but with the handicap of a limited union that made it impossible for the species to continue.