[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":25},["ShallowReactive",2],{"zoom:p1ch2z2:en":3},{"period":4,"chapter":15,"zoom":18},{"id":5,"title":6,"titleEn":6,"titleEs":7,"range":8,"rangeEn":8,"rangeEs":9,"cover":10},"p1","Prehistory","Prehistoria","≈ 1,000,000 BC → 600 BC","≈ 1 000 000 a. C. → 600 a. C.",{"fileName":11,"filePageUrl":12,"imageUrl":13,"sourceLabel":14},"Lascaux, horse.JPG","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lascaux%2C%20horse.JPG","/assets/p1-prehistoire-cover.png","Wikimedia Commons",{"id":16,"title":17},"p1ch2","The Peak of the Paleolithic",{"id":19,"title":20,"chapterId":16,"html":21,"hasEn":22,"isFallback":23,"seoDescription":24},"p1ch2z2","The mystery of Neanderthal extinction","\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>❓ A disappearance that still intrigues us\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Neanderthals disappeared from Europe, including France, around \u003Cstrong>40,000 years ago\u003C/strong>.\u003Cbr>\nSince their discovery in the 19th century, this disappearance has raised a major question:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>How could such a well-adapted species vanish?\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\u003Cp>Today, scientists agree on one essential point:\u003Cbr>\n👉 \u003Cstrong>Neanderthals did not disappear suddenly\u003C/strong>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧬 Neanderthals were not inferior\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg src=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Neanderthal_and_modern_human_skull_comparison.jpg?width=512\" alt=\"Skull comparison\">\u003Cbr>\n\u003Cem>Comparison between a Neanderthal skull (left) and a modern human skull (right).\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Contrary to earlier beliefs, Neanderthals:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>made complex tools (\u003Cstrong>Mousterian culture\u003C/strong>),\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>controlled fire,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>hunted efficiently,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>buried their dead,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>had strong social organization.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>In France, archaeological sites such as \u003Cstrong>La Ferrassie\u003C/strong> (Dordogne) and \u003Cstrong>La Chapelle-aux-Saints\u003C/strong> (Corrèze) show that they survived for \u003Cstrong>hundreds of thousands of years\u003C/strong> in extreme climates.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Their disappearance cannot be explained by simple physical or intellectual inferiority.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🌍 Hypothesis 1: Climate change\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Around –40,000 years ago, Europe experienced \u003Cstrong>significant climate fluctuations\u003C/strong>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>These changes led to:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>transformations of landscapes (forests giving way to steppe),\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>the disappearance of certain animal species,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>increased pressure on food resources.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>Neanderthals, highly specialized in close-range hunting in forest environments, may have struggled to adapt to open plains compared to Homo sapiens.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧍‍♂️🧍‍♀️ Hypothesis 2: Competition with Homo sapiens\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, \u003Cstrong>Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon)\u003C/strong> arrived in France.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>These humans had:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>broader social networks (long-distance exchanges),\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>faster technological innovation (spear-throwers, needles),\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>more advanced symbolic communication (art, ornaments).\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>Even without direct conflict, competition for territory and game may have gradually reduced Neanderthal populations.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧬 Hypothesis 3: Interaction and interbreeding\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Genetic discoveries (Nobel Prize awarded to Svante Pääbo in 2022) revealed a key fact:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>👉 \u003Cstrong>Modern humans (outside sub-Saharan Africa) carry 1–3% Neanderthal DNA.\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>This means:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>Neanderthals and Homo sapiens met,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>they had common descendants,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Neanderthals did not fully disappear, but were \u003Cstrong>genetically absorbed\u003C/strong> into larger sapiens populations.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧠 Key takeaways\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>The disappearance was \u003Cstrong>multifactorial\u003C/strong>: climate, demographics, and interbreeding\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Neanderthals still live on \u003Cstrong>within us\u003C/strong> through our DNA\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>In France, the site of \u003Cstrong>Saint-Césaire\u003C/strong> yielded one of the last known Neanderthal skeletons (around –36,000 years)\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>📸 Image credits\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>Skull comparison — DrMikeBaxter, \u003Ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\">CC BY-SA 2.0\u003C/a>, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Neanderthal man (Chapter 2) — Jakub Hałun, \u003Ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\">CC BY-SA 4.0\u003C/a>, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>📚 Sources\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Svante Pääbo\u003C/strong> – \u003Cem>Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes\u003C/em>\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>CNRS\u003C/strong> – Neanderthals: a gradual disappearance\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>National Museum of Natural History\u003C/strong> – Neanderthal dossier\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>INRAP\u003C/strong> – The last Neanderthals in France\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n",true,false,"Neanderthals disappeared from Europe, including France, around 40,000 years ago . Since their discovery in the 19th century, this disappearance has raised a",1778543142305]