AnirudhaThe Neanderthals
The answer to this mystery is the Neanderthals. When Homo sapiens made this planet their home there were other species that walked side by side to the humans and lived in Europe. It was believed that Neanderthals were wild species and didn’t have any creative abilities like paintings or writing. However, after discovering these cave paintings their previous assumption was soon thrown into the trash.
The Neander Valley
The Neanderthals first came into light when their remains were discovered in a limestone mine in Germany’s Neander Valley in 1856. At first, it was believed that these remains were of some deformed humans, but soon, the scientists discovered that these remains don’t belong to Homo sapiens but to an entirely different species altogether.
Inferior Brain Power
Before 1950, the Neanderthals were considered to be very different from the modern humans in structure and intelligence. Their remains showed them with skulls that had bulges at the back and the long limbs, it was claimed that due to this particular structure their intelligence was limited. But the discovery made in 1950, showed this species in a very different light.
Ancient Tools
The remains weren’t the only discovery these archeologists made on the site, but, the scientists also found out that they buried their dead with a proper ritual which was similar to human. The even prepared medicines from the local herbs found in their surroundings. The scientists believed this species as dumb but were taken aback when they found the creator of these cave paintings which were par with human-made paintings.
DNA Evidence
New evidence discovered even told the scientists that Neanderthals and humans might have crossed path at some point in the history. After DNA testing was done, the results showed that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals did mingle with each other. The DNA did on several modern Europeans and Asian revealed to be 2% Neanderthal.
Extinction Event 40,000 Years Ago
If going by the new discovery, the scientists suggested that the Neanderthals vanished from the face of Earth around 40,000 years old. They shared the same dust under their feet for thousands of year but somehow we don’t see Neanderthals roaming around with us. So, what happened to the entire species that just vanished into thin air?