There is no year zero. It goes from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D.
I also don’t like that absolute certainty unknowables like “How many neanderthals were on the earth 12,000 years ago are asserted.
“I also don’t like that absolute certainty unknowables like “How many neanderthals were on the earth 12,000 years ago are asserted.”
I take most archeological “facts” (assertions) with a pound of salt.
They have no way of knowing anything with certainty.
If Neanderthals were roaming hunter-gatherers, they likely would have followed herds of game animals as they roamed across the landscape, and probably encountered other bands. With a sparse population, warfare over hunting territories shouldn’t have been an issue. Mating between members of different bands would have occurred.
When hunting large animals, using spears, a big hunting party is probably better than a small one.