The Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis) was a species of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago, during the Middle Paleolithic period.

Neanderthals were adapted to the cold, as shown by their large brains, short but robust builds, and large noses - traits selected by nature in cold climates, as observed in modern sub-arctic populations. Their brain sizes have been estimated as larger than modern humans, but their brains may in fact have been approximately the same as those of modern humans. On average, Neanderthal males stood about 1.65m tall (just under 5' 6") and were heavily built, and muscular due to their physical activity. Females were about 1.53 to 1.57m tall (about 5'-5'2").

The characteristic style of stone tools in the Middle Paleolithic is called the Mousterian Culture, after a prominent archaeological site where the tools were first found. The Mousterian culture is typified by the wide use of the Levallois technique. Mousterian tools were often produced using soft hammer percussion, such as bones, antlers, and wood, rather than hard hammer percussion, using stone. Near the end of the time of the Neanderthals, they created the Chatelperronian tool style, considered more "advanced" than that of the Mousterian. They either invented the Chatelperronian themselves or "borrowed" elements from the incoming modern humans who are thought to have created the Aurignacian.

Neanderthal Wikipedia

Iraq: The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave   Smithsonian - March 2010
A rare cache of hominid fossils from the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq offers a window on Neanderthal culture.

Shanidar Cave   Wikipedia

  Iraq The Hidden Story   Google Videos (48:40)

DNA reveals Neanderthal extinction clues   BBC - February 27, 2012
Neanderthals were already on the verge of extinction in Europe by the time modern humans arrived on the scene, a study suggests. DNA analysis suggests most Neanderthals in western Europe died out as early as 50,000 years ago - thousands of years before our own species appeared. A small group of Neanderthals then recolonised parts of Europe, surviving for 10,000 years before vanishing.

'Dumb' Neanderthals Likely Had a Smart Diet   Live Science - October 1, 2011
Instead of Neanderthals being dim-witted hunters who only dined on big game, new findings suggest they had more balanced diets, with broad menus that may have included birds, fish and plants. Neanderthals are currently our closest known extinct relatives, near enough to modern humans to interbreed, with Neanderthal DNA making up 1 percent to 4 percent of modern Eurasian genomes. A host of recent findings suggest they were not only close genetically, but may have shared many other traits with us, such as creating art.

Neanderthal-Human Sex Rarely Produced Kids, Study Suggests   Live Science - September 13, 2011
We may have interbred with Neanderthals in the past, but only rarely was that sex successful in producing offspring, scientists now suggest. Any such dalliances might either have been scarce or only rarely produced offspring, or both, researchers explained. Recent analyses of Neanderthal genes revealed that many of us have this extinct lineage within our ancestry. Estimates suggest that Neanderthal DNA makes up 1 to 4 percent of modern Eurasian genomes.

How sex with Neanderthals made us stronger   MSNBC - August 25, 2011
Mating with Neanderthals and another group of extinct hominids, Denisovans, strengthened the human immune system and left behind evidence in the DNA of people today, according to new research. The findings add to the growing body of evidence that modern humans who left Africa around 65,000 years ago mated with Neanderthals and Denisovans - two archaic species that lived in Europe and Asia.

Sex with Neanderthals Gave Humans Immunity Boost   Live Science - August 25, 2011
Neanderthals and other extinct humans might have endowed some of us with the robust immune systems we enjoy today, scientists now find. These genetic gifts might have helped our species as we expanded out of Africa, investigators added.

DNA Evidence: Neanderthals Had Sex With Humans   Live Science - July 23, 2011

Some Neanderthals may have had pale skin and red hair similar to that of some modern humans.

All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm   Discovery - July 18, 2011
If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings. Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal's Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage. "This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred," Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release.

Neanderthals Made a Last Stand at Subarctic Outpost?   National Geographic - May 17, 2011
Newfound tools (inset) suggest late Neanderthals lived north of the known European Neanderthal range. A hardy band of Neanderthals may have made a last stand for their species at a remote outpost in subarctic Russia, a newfound prehistoric "tool kit" suggests. The Ural Mountains site "may be one of the last [refuges] of the Neanderthals, and that would be very exciting," said study leader Ludovic Slimak, an archaeologist at France's UniversitŽ de Toulouse le Mirail.

Back ache has been a pain for millions of years   PhysOrg - February 24, 2011

Research by a Cambridge archaeologist shows that back pain caused untold misery long before we started staring into screens and slumping on sofas. The high incidence of back pain apparent today is often blamed on our lazy lifestyles: we sit at computers, watch television, travel by car and eat too much.

Neanderthals Wore Colorful Feathers, Study Suggests   Live Science - February 23, 2011

Neanderthals plucked the feathers from falcons and vultures, perhaps for symbolic value, scientists find. This new discovery adds to evidence that our closest known extinct relatives were capable of creating art. Scientists investigated the Grotta di Fumane - "the Grotto of Smoke" - in northern Italy, a site loaded with Neanderthal bones. After digging down to layers that existed at the surface 44,000 years ago, the researchers discovered 660 bones belonging to 22 species of birds, with evidence of cut, peeling and scrape marks from stone tools on the wing bones of birds that had no clear practical or culinary value.

Early humans won at running; Neanderthals won at walking   PhysOrg - February 7, 2011
New research has compared the performance of the heels of modern-day distance runners to the heels of Neanderthals and ancient Homo sapiens. The results show the Neanderthals' heels were taller than those of modern humans and Homo sapiens, and more adapted to walking than running over long distances, while those of Homo sapiens were more adapted to endurance running.

The Neanderthal Nose Enigma: Why So Big?   Live Science - January 14, 2011
A mystery of Neanderthals for more than a century is one that's literally as plain as the noses on their faces - why did they have such big schnozes? One common answer suggests their faces somehow helped our extinct relatives deal with the extreme cold they faced. Now, however, scientists find that Neanderthal faces were not built for the cold -meaning that no one still knows why Neanderthals had such noses.

Neanderthals cooked and ate vegetables   BBC - December 27, 2010
Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals. Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.

Differences in human and Neanderthal brains set in just after birth   PhysOrg - November 8, 2010
The brains of newborn humans and Neanderthals are about the same size and appear rather similar overall. It's mainly after birth, and specifically in the first year of life, that the differences between our brains and those of our extinct relatives really take shape, according to a report published in the Nov. 9 issue of Current Biology.

Neanderthals Were More Promiscuous Than Modern Humans, Fossil Finger Bones Suggest   Science Daily - November 6, 2010
Fossil finger bones of early human ancestors suggest that Neanderthals were more promiscuous than human populations today, researchers at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford have found.

Volcanoes Killed Off Neanderthals, Study Suggests   National Geographic - September 24, 2010
Catastrophic volcanic eruptions in Europe may have culled Neanderthals to the point where they couldn't bounce back, according to a controversial new theory. Modern humans, though, squeaked by, thanks to fallback populations in Africa and Asia, researchers say. About 40,000 years ago in what we now call Italy and the Caucasus Mountains, which straddle Europe and Asia, several volcanoes erupted in quick succession, according to a new study.

Neanderthals were able to 'develop their own tools'   BBC - September 24, 2010

Neanderthals were keen on innovation and technology and developed tools all on their own, scientists say. A new study challenges the view that our close relatives could advance only through contact with Homo sapiens. The team says climate change was partly responsible for forcing Neanderthals to innovate in order to survive.

Artefacts hint at earliest Neanderthals in Britain   BBC - June 1, 2010
Neanderthals Walked Into Frozen Britain 40,000 Years Earlier Than First Thought, Evidence Shows   Science Daily - June 1, 2010

Neanderthals, Humans Interbred - First Solid DNA Evidence   National Geographic - May 6, 2010

Neanderthal genes 'survive in us'   BBC - May 6, 2010

Last Neanderthals in Europe Died out 37,000 Years Ago   Science Daily - January 27, 2010

Use of Body Ornamentation Shows Neanderthal Mind Capable of Advanced Thought   Science Daily - January 13, 2010

Neanderthal 'make-up' containers discovered   National Geographic - January 10, 2010

Did Neanderthals have sex with modern man?   MSNBC - November 6, 2009

Neanderthals wouldn't have eaten their sprouts either   PhysOrg - August 12, 2009

Prehistoric cold case shows hints of interspecies homicide   PhysOrg - July 21, 2009

Sea gives up Neanderthal fossil   BBC - June 15, 2009
Part of a Neanderthal man's skull has been dredged up from the North Sea, in the first confirmed find of its kind.

Neanderthals 'distinct from us' - scientists map genome   BBC - February 12, 2009

First draft of Neanderthal genome is unveiled   New Scientist - February 12, 2009

Biodiversity Hotspot Enabled Neanderthals To Survive Up Until 24,000 Years Ago In South East Of Spain   Science Daily - February 2, 2009

Competition, Not Climate Change, Led To Neanderthal Extinction, Study Shows   Science Daily - December 30, 2008

Late Neanderthals and modern human contact in southeastern Iberia    PhysOrg - December 9, 2008

Neanderthals Ate Seals and Dolphins BBC - September 23, 2008

DNA-Based Neanderthal Face Unveiled National Geographic - September 17, 2008

Meet Wilma - named for the redheaded Flintstones character the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

Childbirth Was Already Difficult For Neanderthals Science Daily - September 9, 2008

Neanderthals beat mammoths, so why not us? MSNBC - September 9, 2008

Neanderthals Grew Fast, but Sexual Maturity Came Late National Geographic - September 9, 2008

'Complexity' of Neanderthal tools BBC - August 26, 2008

Neanderthals Didn't Mate With Modern Humans, Study Says National Geographic - August 12, 2008

Neandertals Had Big Mouths, Gaped Widely National Geographic - May 3, 2008

Neandertals Ate Their Veggies, Tooth Study Shows National Geographic - April 28, 2008

Skull Changes Show Time of Human-Neandertal Split National Geographic - March 17, 2008

Neanderthals 'were flame-haired' BBC - October 25, 2007

Some Neandertals Were Pale Redheads, DNA Suggests National Geographic - October 25, 2007

Neanderthals Had Same "Language Gene" as Modern Humans National Geographic - October 18, 2007

Neandertals Ranged Much Farther East Than Thought National Geographic - October 2, 2007

Odd Skull Boosts Human, Neandertal Interbreeding Theory National Geographic - August 2, 2007

A sharp freeze could have dealt the killer blow that finished off our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals BBC - February 21, 2007

Neanderthals Were Cannibals National Geographic - December 5, 2006

Neandertal DNA Partially Mapped, Studies Show National Geographic - November 15, 2006
Modern humans' closest relatives, the Neandertals, broke off from the family tree about 500,000 years ago ... Neanderthals share 99.5 percent of their genetic makeup.
Neanderthal DNA secrets unlocked BBC - November 15, 2006
A genetic breakthrough could help clear up some long-standing mysteries surrounding our closest evolutionary relatives: the Neanderthals.

Neandertals, Modern Humans Interbred, Bone Study Suggests National Geographic - October 30, 2006

Neanderthal Gene Study Reveals Early Split With Humans National Geographic - October 28, 2006

Neanderthals' 'last rock refuge' BBC - September 13, 2006
... may have lived in Gorham's Cave on Gibraltar up to 24,000 years ago.

Neanderthal yields nuclear DNA BBC - May 16, 2006

Fossils fill gap in human lineage BBC - April 13, 2006

Fossil hunters have found remains of a probable direct ancestor of humans that lived more than four million years ago. The specimens of this ancient creature are helping bridge a long gap during a crucial phase of human evolution.

Early hominid from the Caucasus may have 'cared for elderly' BBC - April 2005

Flesh on bones of 'first ape-man' BBC- April 2005

Experts are a step closer to answering whether an ancient skull from Africa belonged to a possible human ancestor or was closer to apes,

Oldest Fossil Protein Sequenced From Neanderthal Science Daily - April 2005

Neandertal Advance: First Fully Jointed Skeleton Built National Geographic - March 2005

Age of ancient humans reassessed BBC - February 2005

Two skulls originally found in 1967 have been shown to be about 195,000 years old, making them the oldest modern human remains known to science

The icy truth behind Neanderthals BBC - February 2005

In 1848, a strange skull was discovered on the military outpost of Gibraltar. It was undoubtedly human, but also had some of the heavy features of an ape - distinct brow ridges, and a forward projecting face

The Mysterious end of Essex Man Guardian - January 2005
Archaeologists now believe two groups of early humans fought for dominance in ancient Britain - and the axe-wielders won.

Amazing hominid haul in Ethiopia BBC - January 2005
Fossil hunters unearthed remains of at least nine primitive hominids that are between 4.5 million and 4.3 million years old.

Skull fuels Homo erectus debate Story 1 - BBC - July 2004

Neanderthals were 'adults by 15' BBC - April 2004

Early human marks are 'symbols' BBC - March 2004

A series of parallel lines engraved in an animal bone between 1.4 and 1.2 million years ago may be the earliest example of human symbolic behavior.

A New Branch Of Primitive Humans Reported Found In Ethiopia Space Daily - March 2004

Late Neanderthals 'more like us' BBC - December 2003

Neanderthals 'had hands like ours' BBC - March 2003

Computer reconstructions of fossilized bones show their hands had almost the same manual dexterity as ours.

Did Neandertals Lack Smarts to Survive? National Geographic - March 2003