Neanderthals lived more recently than thought

LONDON, Sep 14 (Reuters) Neanderthals lived in southern Europe as recently as 28,000 years ago, had a varied diet and used sophisticated tools and weapons.

The species was thought to have survived in Europe until the arrival of modern humans about 30,000 years ago. But new findings by Professor Clive Finlayson of the Gibraltar Museum in Gibraltar shows the two groups may have coexisted in Europe for 4,000 years or longer.

''We are showing quite clearly that they survived at the very least until 28,000 years ago and possibly as recently as 24,000 years. That is significantly later than previously thought,'' Finlayson yesterday told Reuters.

Neanderthals were predecessors of modern humans who inhabited Europe and parts of west and central Asia. Despite their image as club-carrying, hairy brutes, research suggests they were expert tool makers, used animal skins to keep warm and may have cared for each other.

During a new excavation at Gorham's Cave, a rich source of prehistoric artefacts in Gibraltar, Finlayson found a campfire made by Neanderthals and remains of tools, flint weapons and animal fossils.

''We have the remains of not just the mammals they were eating but birds ... and shellfish, indicating that their diet was not strictly carnivorous,'' Finlayson said.

Charcoal found at the site enabled the scientists to date it. They were also able to reconstruct the environment in which the late Neanderthals lived and found it included a variety of plants.

''It indicates to us that in spite of the glaciations further up in Europe, this was a place where the climate was still sufficiently mild for populations of Neanderthals to survive quite late,'' added Finlayson, whose findings are reported online by the journal Nature.

How long Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted in the same geographical area is a subject of much debate, with some researchers suggesting it could have been as short as 2,000 years.

''Here we are looking at 4,000 years, if not more, and that is a long time'' said Finlayson.

''It sounds like very little, but if you transpose it into human generations today, 4,000 years is from the time of Christ to the present and back,'' he added.

The scientists are excavating further in the cave where stone tools were discovered more than 50 years ago. They will also be looking for Neanderthal burial sites in the cave's deeper parts.

REUTERS DKA DS1050