‘Thal Order: 11 Things You Might Not Know About Neanderthals

It’s been some 40,000 years since the last Homo neanderthalensis, or Neanderthals, disappeared from sight. Our closest human relative, the Neanderthal continues to fascinate scientists and the curious alike—an anthropological version of a distant and eccentric uncle, if said uncle had a very long and xenomorph-like skull.

If you’re low on information about this ancient species, we’ve assembled a compilation of facts that provide a glimpse of their rich history, their surprisingly keen intellect, and their willingness to snack on human flesh (but only when necessary).

Neanderthals weren’t discovered until the 19th century.

Neanderthals are believed to have originated in Europe and Asia 400,000 years ago, but it took modern recorded history quite some time to catch on to their existence. It wasn’t until 1856 that a partial skeleton was discovered in the Neander Valley in Germany that science was able to recognize the species and give it a name in honor of the place it was discovered. (Some Neanderthal bones—including a female skull—had been found decades earlier, but weren’t properly identified until later.)

Neanderthals may have adapted to cold climates.

Unlike your typical Florida snowbird, Neanderthals were well-equipped for frigid temperatures, having evolved from warmer Mediterraneans climates to the harsh conditions of ice age Europe and Siberia over tens of thousands of years. It’s possible their distinctive nose—much wider than that of Homo sapiens—was attributable to a need to warm and moisten cool air before inhaling it into the lungs. Their relatively shorter frames (roughly 5 feet tall) may have also been to reduce the loss of body heat in cold conditions.

Not all scientists, however, agree with this assessment. A 2011 paper in Journal of Human Evolution posited that sinuses can actually shrink in cold, making their evolutionary growth questionable; some 3D reconstructions of Neanderthal faces indicate proportionate features.

Despite their reputation, Neanderthals were pretty intelligent and cultured.

It’s common to refer to someone exhibiting impolite, antisocial, or ignorant behaviors as a Neanderthal, presumably in reference to a caveman disposition. But this cliché isn’t really accurate. It’s true that anthropologists were quick to dismiss them as “primitive” early on, but continued research has demonstrated that Neanderthals were far more sophisticated than one might expect. Their neocortex, the part of the brain involved in emotion and cognition, was roughly the same size as ours. The species could start fires, cared for injured clan members, and even buried their dead. (The latter was particularly useful for later research: buried fossils stand a far better chance of surviving over the millennia.)

Having said that, some Neanderthals were also cannibals.

Nothing ruins a good Neanderthals-aren’t-so-“primitive” argument than to bring up the unfortunate fact that there’s evidence of cannibalism. While Neanderthals usually stuck to an expected diet of animal meat and plants, some remains have been discovered with marks consistent with defleshing and other butcher’s techniques that would indicate same-species consumption. Scientists stress this was uncommon, however, and may have been practiced only when faced with starvation. Homo sapiens aren’t exempt from such behavior, either.

Neanderthals could probably talk—but that doesn’t mean they did.

One of the more enduring mysteries about Neanderthals is whether they had a spoken language, a trait that’s impossible to prove within the fossil record. Research has determined Neanderthals at least had the bone structure consistent with the ability to hear at frequencies that made listening to speaking voices possible.

But while they could have heard as well as created spoken words, it doesn’t mean they did. Instead, it’s possible Neanderthals evolved physical traits to make sounds similar to animal mating calls.

Neanderthals probably understood art.

One key factor in cognition is conceptual thought, which can be evidenced in artistic expression. And while it’s not a common sight, there is evidence Neanderthals had a little Bob Ross in them. Cave paintings and other art has been attributed to the species, though its intent is murky. One hyena bone found in France, for example, was engraved in a way that signals some sort of purposeful meaning, but scientists still aren’t quite sure whether the choice was aesthetic or accidental. (Not unlike modern art.)

Neanderthals were social.

Whether they wanted companionship or simply wanted to take shelter from the cold, Neanderthals were prone to assembling settlements of up to two dozen relatives. These collectives would interact with others, possibly to marshal resources.

Such co-existence wasn’t always peaceful. Many Neanderthal remains have been discovered with broken bones and other traumatic injuries that hint at fights and warfare. As with other extinct human species, their life expectancy fell off sharply after age 40. But it’s also believed Neanderthal groups supported sick or injured members with a form of health care, including wound dressings and medicinal plants.

They didn’t hunch over.

The stereotype of the slouching Neanderthal persists, but it’s far more likely their posture was better than your average desk worker. A near-complete Neanderthal skeleton found in Israel in 1983 provided data for a digital thorax (ribcage and spine) reconstruction in 2018. Not only was the spine straight, but the ribs seemed to provide for a larger pair of lungs than those found in humans.

Neanderthals interbred with modern humans.

Before going the proverbial way of the dodo, Neanderthals interbred with Homo sapiens. (Interbreeding refers to mating between animals of the same genus; inbreeding is between those with similar genetic traits.) How do we know this? Between 1 percent to 4 percent of modern European and Asian DNA is made up of Neanderthal genes.

Neanderthals also interbred with Denisovans, human ancestors who vanished some 30,000 years ago and who were named after the Denisova cave in Siberia where bone fragments were found. One such sample analyzed in 2018 was from a girl with a Denisovan father and Neanderthal mother.

We’re still not quite sure why Neanderthals went extinct.

For a resourceful and intelligent species, it’s somewhat surprising Neanderthals failed to persist. Some paleoanthropologists theorize that despite their adaptability, cold climates still proved to be too challenging, reducing their population in cycles. Others believe Homo sapiens may have proven too hostile and crafty, fashioning long-range weapons that trumped Neanderthals’ stocky, strong physiques. Or, diseases that other humans had developed resistance to proved too challenging for the Neanderthal immune system.

You may not be pronouncing Neanderthal correctly.

Saying Neanderthal as Nee-AN-der-thall looks and sounds correct, but it’s not. It’s pronounced Nee-AN-der-tall. Recall that the species was named after the Neander Valley: The German word for valley at that time was “thal,” but the h is silent. That said, not everyone agrees that words should be pronounced per their native tongue. You shouldn’t be labeled a caveman for saying Nee-AN-der-tall.

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