Looking for the solution to the disappearance of the ancient Neanderthal

Before extinction about 40,000 years ago, the ancient Neanderthal lived side by side with modern humans in Europe for about five millennia, long enough to take place in cultural exchanges and breeding.

This is the conclusion of researchers at Oxford University (UK) published in the country's natural science journal on August 20.

Scientists have long been seeking answers to questions from when, how, why did the ancient people become extinct and "yield" the Earth to modern people?

Previous anatomical studies show that modern humans originated in Africa, came to Europe from 50,000 to 30,000 years ago and found Neanderthals there.

The short exchange time between these two breeds has created today's non-African breeds that carry about 1.5-2.1% of Neanderthal ancient genes.

Recreate the ancient image of Neanderthal at a museum in the Eyzies-de-Tayac, France.(Source: CNN)

In the latest study to determine the last time the ancients existed on Earth, Oxford researchers also claimed that Europe 45,000 years ago was "occupied" by the ancient Neanderthals, with small groups of modern people live alternately.

This situation lasted for more than 5,000 years until the ancient people disappeared.

According to Oxford researchers, the ancient Neanderthals disappeared from parts of Europe at different times , rather than being replaced by a "landing" of modern people.

This development seems to be marked by cultural and biological interference lasting several thousand years.

There is no evidence that these two groups live close to each other, but they coexist in 25 to 250 generations (from 2,600 to 5,400 years), depending on the region, the time is long enough for cultural interference and insemination.

To get this conclusion, the researchers used advanced technology to date 200 samples of bone, coal and shell collected from 40 archaeological excavations from Russia to Spain.

Since radioactive carbon dating is reliable, but often difficult due to bone carbon degradation or rock formations dating back more than 25,000 years, Oxford researchers had to take measures Ultrafiltration to remove impurities from collagen extracted from bone.

Lead researcher Thomas Higham affirmed with the ultrafiltration method, his team could confidently claim to have found a solution to the question of when the ancient Neanderthals disappeared in history. His team conducted this study for 6 years.