How Savvy Neanderthals Used Rivers To Travel Long Distances Across The World

StudyFinds, Reviewed by Sophia Naughton ^ | June 10, 2025 | Research led by Emily Coco and Radu Iovita, New York University

[SunkenCiv]

New research reveals that our extinct Neanderthal relatives were surprisingly savvy navigators who used river valleys to zip across continents in record time. Computer simulations show they could cross from western Russia to Siberia in as little as 1,600 years, a prehistoric speed record that shows the efficiency of their migration skills.

A new study published in PLOS One reveals that Neanderthals could have traveled from the Caucasus Mountains to the Altai Mountains of Siberia in the blink of an eye in prehistoric terms. Using sophisticated computer simulations that model ancient migration patterns, researchers from New York University discovered that these early humans consistently chose northern routes through what is now Russia, following river valleys across the continent.

This means that Neanderthals were far more mobile and adaptable than previously thought. The research indicates that geography itself may have made eastward expansion almost inevitable, meaning the landscape practically guaranteed Neanderthal migration to Siberia.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientnavigation; godsgravesglyphs; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; paleolithic

[SunkenCiv]

Computer simulated paths of Neanderthal dispersals demonstrate they could have reached the Altai Mountains in Siberia within 2,000 years during warm climatic conditions in one of two ancient time periods—MIS 5e (approximately 125,000 years ago) or MIS 3 (approximately 60,000 years ago)—as demonstrated by the three different possible paths shown here. These paths follow a northern route through the Ural Mountains and southern Siberia, often intersecting with known archaeological sites from the same time periods.

Credit: Emily Coco and Radu Iovita

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the link.

[Red Badger]

This is why...............

[lee martell]

Back then, every street was a One Way Street, depending on the season or in some cases, the phase of the Moon.
The Good Old Days, of no 4 Way Intersections!

[Verginius Rufus]

"Zipping across" at an average of what? 2 or 3 miles per year on average?

Of course it's easy to set a record when your predecessors were Homo erectus or Peking Man.

[ChronicMA]

Only 2000 years, WOW. How many thousands of years did it take Lewis and Clark to cross half a continent. Some members of that trip were on foot.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Did the Neanderthals ever stop and say to themselves “Damn! It’s getting colder the farther north we go. This Siberia place is REALLY cold. We better turn around and go back to that nice, warm, Mediterranean climate place we left.”

[Candor7]

Neanderthal Bob's yer Uncle? He was mine fer sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cAcwwrQ7Sg

[marktwain]

They just followed the game. They were excellent hunters. As population expands, small groups of hunters find more game in other places, and the territory with human hunters expands...

It is not as if they stopped populating in the area behind them. This is a spreading of populations, not the travel of any single person.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

So how many said “Damn, it’s cold here! Let’s turn around, boys!”?

[suasponte137]

Lol, my thoughts exactly. I was waiting for them to throw numbers like clearing 1000 miles in a season using rivers or something like that. When they said they were super impressed with going from Western Russia to eastern Russia in 1600 years I was like what?????

A pogo stick would’ve been more efficient method to travel

[SunkenCiv]

I’m curious how the researchers concluded that 1600 years would be required — not least because Precolumbian America is supposed to have been populated by a single overland event, and the archaelogy shows that humans were inhabiting everything down to Tierra del Fuego in less than a generation.

[SteveH]

my theory that they used nuclear powered steamboats remains unrefuted...

[bigbob]

Follow the Food

[SunkenCiv]

[singing] chain chain chain, chain of food...

[bunkerhill7]

They had boats.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Savvy Neanderthals“

I was at their concert at Red Rocks.
Crazy time

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[SunkenCiv]

• Age constraints for the Trachilos footprints from Crete [10/12/2021]
• Neandertals, Stone Age people may have voyaged the Mediterranean [05/05/2018]
• Controversial footprint discovery suggests human-like creatures may have roamed Crete [09/01/2017]
• The Discovery that Revealed Ancient Humans Navigated the Seas 130,000 Years Ago [2013] [07/15/2016]
• Anthropologist suggests Mediterranean islands inhabited much earlier than thought [11/16/2012]
• Neanderthals were ancient mariners [03/02/2012]
• Cretan tools point to 130,000-year-old sea travel [01/03/2011]
• On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners [02/17/2010]
• Ancient hominids may have been seafarers [01/14/2010]

[gleeaikin]

They may have had boats, but the article title is wrong, the article itself says they used river valleys to travel, not the river itself. Also, the 1600 years may have been calculated based on the finding of remains at one end and the other, separated by that approximate age.