THE mystery of what killed the Neanderthals has moved a step
closer to resolution after an international study led by the
University of Leeds has ruled out one of the competing theories
– catastrophic climate change – as the most likely cause. The
bones of more than 400 Neanderthals have been found since the
first discoveries were made in the early 19th century. The finds
suggest the Neanderthals, named after the Neander Valley near
Düsseldorf, where they were first recognized as an extinct kind
of archaic humans, inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia
for more than 100,000 years. The causes of their extinction have
puzzled scientists for years – with some believing it was due to
competition with modern humans, while others blamed
deteriorating climatic conditions. But a new study published
today in Nature has shown that the Neanderthal extinction did
not coincide with any of the extreme climate events that
punctuated the last glacial period. The research was led by
Professor Chronis Tzedakis, a palaeoeco