So, if humans came “up out of Africa”, and the Neanderthals were already in Europe, then where the hell did the Neanderthals come from?
‘where the hell did the Neanderthals come from?’
The current theory seems to be that they descended from Heidelberg Man, which arose in Africa more than half a million years before Homo Sapiens, and who had spread out of Africa at, very roughly, 500 thousand B.C.
New Jersey?
By “humans” is meant Homo Sapiens, not Homo Neanderthalis. An earlier European was Homo Heidelburgensis, probably the precursor of Neanderthal. While Neanderthal may have died out earlier in Eastern Europe, there seems to be credible evidence that they existed in Spain later than 30,000 ya, and given the existence of the “ginger gene” in significant numbers of northern British and Irish, they probably survived there as a remnent population. Current genetic studies indicate that we have from 1 to 4% Neanderthal DNA.
I think my late husband was a 4 percenter. He had long torso, short legs, very muscular and strong, red hair, light blue eyes, very hairy even on his shoulder, strong brow ridges, weak chin, crystaline almost transparent teeth edges, and a warrior temperment.