DID THEY COEXIST WITH MODERN HUMANS?

When modern humans entered Europe, they didn’t drive the continent’s other occupants out. Not immediately, anyway — meaning there was a period in which H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis inhabited Europe at around the same time. But Europe is a big place, and specialists still struggle to answer

questions about when and where these two species interacted with one another.

A 2022 study in Scientific Reports set out to pinpoint when and where these interactions occurred, if they occurred at all. Analyzing over 60 ancient artifacts crafted by modern humans and Neanderthals, the study found that these species likely lived together in a swath of France and Spain for as much as 2,900 years.

To arrive at their findings, the researchers assessed more than 60 tools and personal ornaments from nearly 20 sites across France and Spain. They then used computational modeling to approximate the earliest and latest dates that the artifacts might have been made, as well as the earliest and latest dates that the ancient humans who fashioned the artifacts might’ve lived within the area.

According to this modeling,

H. sapiens appeared in the region between 42,653 and 42,269 years ago, whereas H. neanderthalensis disappeared from the region between 40,870 and 39,798 years ago. This would mean that the two species roamed the same area for a period of around 1,400 to 2,900 years.

Though the research reveals a substantial period of regional cohabitation between the two species, the results do not necessarily prove that they interacted with one another within that time. That being said, the researchers say that the similarities between the analyzed artifacts could potentially indicate the sharing of ideas between the two species — an ancient meeting of minds, more than a battle between brute and brain.