A site where Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans all left traces. A bone fragment from a young girl was found to have a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father, showing interbreeding occurred across multiple human groups. Their brains were as large—or sometimes larger—than ours, and their toolmaking required planning and skill. They possessed the anatomical structures for speech and likely communicated using complex vocalizations.
Their decline was gradual and likely due to multiple factors, not sudden extermination. Imagine a cold morning in Ice Age Europe. A small Neanderthal group gathers near the mouth of a limestone cave. The embers of last night’s fire still glow. A few individuals chip away at stones, crafting sharp flakes for hunting. Others venture out to track reindeer herds across frost-covered plains.
