Neanderthals lived longer than previously thought

Posted on Sunday, September 17 2006 @ 5:20 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
A team of international scientists claims they have found where and when the Neanderthals made their last stand before extinction.
It was at Gibraltar 28,000 years ago, some 2,000 years more recently than previously thought.

The archaeologists and paleontologists reported yesterday finding several hundred stone tools in Gorham’s Cave, on the rugged Mediterranean coast near the Rock of Gibraltar. They are artifacts of the Mousterian technology, usually associated with Neanderthals. So far, no fossil bones of the cave occupants have been uncovered.

The researchers said, however, that the tools established the survival of a population of Neanderthals, a people closely related to human ancestors, in the southernmost point of Western Europe long after they disappeared elsewhere.

These were, they concluded, the last Neanderthals “currently recorded anywhere.”
More info at NY Times.


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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