Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Palaeoanthropology

The time of the last Neanderthals

Nature volume 512, pages 260–261 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

A Correction to this article was published on 03 September 2014

The application of improved radiocarbon-dating techniques to samples from archaeological sites ranging from Russia to Spain has redefined the timing of the final disappearance of Neanderthals from Europe. See Letter p.306

The question of when and how the Neanderthals became extinct has long fascinated scientists. Three key advances have begun to transform our understanding of this process: better removal of contaminants from ancient samples, more targeting of human fossils and artefacts for dating, and extension of calibration curves to 50,000 years ago for radiocarbon dates. On page 306 of this issue, Higham et al.1 combine these developments to investigate how the biological and cultural transition from Neanderthals to modern humans might have occurred. The authors conclude that Neanderthals and their associated archaeological industries were gone from Europe between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago, leaving the continent to our species.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Ancient environments.

Judy Allen

References

  1. Higham, T. et al. Nature 512, 306–309 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bird, M. I. et al. Radiocarbon 41, 127–140 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bronk Ramsey, C., Higham, T., Bowles, A. & Hedges, R. Radiocarbon 46, 155–163 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Marom, A., McCullagh, J. S., Higham, T., Sinitsyn, A. A. & Hedges, R. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 6878–6881 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Zilhão, J. in El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa (ed. Cabrera Valdés, V.) 127–145 (UNED, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Finlayson, C. et al. Nature 443, 850–853 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. McBrearty, S. & Brooks, A. J. Hum. Evol. 39, 453–563 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Stringer, C. B., Grün, R., Schwarz, H. P. & Goldberg, P. Nature 338, 756–758 (1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Prüfer, K. et al. Nature 505, 43–49 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Trinkaus, E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 7367–7372 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. De Vivo, B. et al. Miner. Petrol. 73, 47–65 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lowe, J. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 13532–13537 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Allen, J. R. M. et al. Quat. Sci. Rev. 29, 2604–2618 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. William Davies is in the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK.,

    William Davies

Authors
  1. William Davies
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Davies.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Davies, W. The time of the last Neanderthals. Nature 512, 260–261 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/512260a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/512260a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing