Neanderthals might not have been stupid after all.
Many believe Neanderthals were driven to extinction by smarter human ancestors, but this idea has never been proven scientifically, a University of Colorado, Boulder news release reported.
Neanderthals walked both Europe and Asia between 350,000 and 40,000 years ago, but the population tapered off after "anatomically modern humans" migrated over from Africa.
Scientists have suggested in the past that the Neanderthals disappeared because the "superior" newcomers were more skilled at hunting, communicating, and adapting.
A recent review of Neanderthal research suggests Neanderthals may not have been as inferior as was previously believed.
"The evidence for cognitive inferiority is simply not there," CU-Boulder researcher Paola Villa said in the news release. "What we are saying is that the conventional view of Neanderthals is not true."
Past theories on Neanderthal extinction include factors such as poor communion skills and weapons as well as a more limited diet than the anatomically modern humans.
This new research suggests none of these claims are founded. A number of archaeological sites show evidence that Neanderthals hunted in groups. They also may have "herded bison to their death" by maneuvering them into sinkholes.
Ancient evidence also suggests that Neanderthals had a diverse diet. Microfossils found in Neanderthal teeth show the humanoids dined on items such as "wild peas, acorns, pistachios, grass seeds, wild olives, pine nuts and date palms," the news release reported.
The researchers believe past misconceptions may have come from the a poor comparison between Neanderthals of the Middle Paleolithic and modern humans of the Upper Paleolithic period, which showed a significant increase in technology.
"Researchers were comparing Neanderthals not to their contemporaries on other continents but to their successors," Villa said. "It would be like comparing the performance of Model T Fords, widely used in America and Europe in the early part of the last century, to the performance of a modern-day Ferrari and conclude that Henry Ford was cognitively inferior to Enzo Ferrari."
