Evolution of Man

We all know about Darwin and his theories on evolution. Yet there is still so much we don't know. As a child I was amazed to learn that the earth was once inhabited by various species of man. Like most, I had been taught that Homo Sapiens (modern Humans) had left Africa 60,000 yeas ago and migrated into Europe. Once there, they came across Neanderthals. The conclusion was that Neanderthals were wiped out. The reason for their demise was our intelligence. We outcompeted them in hunting.

I remember being a young boy and picturing a scene. A group of Homo Sapiens are exploring their new land, they stumble across a Neanderthal family huddled around a fire, they stare at each other in curious amazement.

I have spent years researching Neanderthals and what happened to them. I had a theory and it starts with that look of curious amazement. I never believed that they saw each other as different species. Modern humans look different depending on where they are from. I felt a similar view was taken back then. I'm not saying they were always friends. I'm sure an ancient form of racism surfaced its head. But I felt sure that they believed they were the same species.

I also didn't believe that the Neanderthals were wiped out. Bones don't indicate war on a large scale. I didn't feel that they were outcompeted for food. There were animals around to be hunted. The world wasn't as heavily populated back then. Homo Sapiens were in most countries but didn't fill each country. You could have walked days without seeing a single person up until Medieval times. My theory was that they were bred out. I wasn't the only one, however it was a contentious opinion. People laughed at me, so I needed to prove it. I never did prove it, someone else did.

A team of scientists comparing the full genomes of the two species concluded that anyone living outside of Africa has between 1-4 % Neanderthal DNA. Indigenous sub-Saharan Africans have no Neanderthal DNA since their ancestors never migrated.

What does it all mean? Homo Sapiens weren't at war with Neanderthals, nor were they taking all of their food. Instead, they mated with them. Neanderthals as a species were literally sucked into a much larger gene pool. We all have a Neanderthal ancestor. Science and Archaeology still have a long way to go in answering all questions but every year we know more than we ever have.

So what happened to the Neanderthals? They are still here, they just look different. They look like you and me.