Neanderthal Extinction Was "Genocide" Committed By Humans, Argues Researcher

[Judi Lynn]

We are the bad guys.

BEN TAUB
Freelance Writer

Published
July 13, 2023

It’s been 40,000 years since the last Neanderthals walked the Earth, yet scientists are still trying to figure out who or what finished off the ancient hominid species. One of the more obvious possibilities is that modern humans massacred their Eurasian relatives, and the author of a new book suggests that our uniquely genocidal nature made such an outcome inevitable.

Criminology expert Dr Yarin Eski from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam argues that “genocidal violence and mass exploitation are perhaps the defining characteristics of being human,” and explains how our talent for murder not only put paid to the Neanderthals, but has colored all of human history.

Regarding our role in the destruction of our extinct cousins, Eski notes that there are several possible mechanisms by which we may have helped wipe out the Neanderthals. One such hypothesis holds that when modern humans arrived in Eurasia from Africa, they brought with them diseases to which the local hominid populations had no immunity.

Another theory states that our superior weapons and hunting strategies allowed us to monopolize food sources, causing our less capable relatives to die of starvation. More recently, it has been suggested that the Neanderthals didn’t die out, but were simply bred out of existence as they mated with modern humans.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/neanderthal-extinction-was-genocide-committed-by-humans-argues-researcher-69804