Gibraltar 'last territory' for Neanderthals
Neanderthal man survived for longer than thought
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Thursday, 14, Sep 2006 12:22
Neanderthals survived in small refuges in southern Europe for much longer than previously thought, a new study claims.
Previous research led scientists to believe that Neanderthals, man's last surviving relatives, may have immediately succumbed after the arrival of modern humans about 35,000 years ago.
But the recent study from Clive Finlayson and his colleagues at the Gibraltar Museum suggests that the two species lived side by side for several thousand years.
Their findings are based on excavations of Gorhams' Cave in Gibraltar, in which stone tools were first discovered 50 years ago.
Dating of more recently uncovered artefacts, including a series of hearth places within the cave, suggest that the cave was a favoured location which was visited repeatedly over many thousands of years. The evidence points towards Neanderthals occupying the site until 28,000 years ago and possibly as recently as 24,000 years ago.
It is thought that their survival there for so long was due to the diverse plants and animals, woodlands, wetlands and coastline.
"The low density of early Upper Palaeolithic sites in southern Iberia and the late presence of Neanderthals, reported in this paper, indicate that for a long time populations of both Neanderthals and modern humans were thinly scattered across the region," the study's authors write in the online edition of the Nature journal.