The Neandertals

Neandertals were ancestors of modern humans who lived in Europe and parts of western Asia around 400,000 to 40,000 years ago. They had a robust build, adapted to cold climates, with a large skull, prominent brows, and powerful muscles. Neandertals made complex tools, controlled fire, and possibly had symbolic behaviors like burying their dead. They were skilled hunters and foragers, and evidence suggests some interbreeding with early Homo sapiens. Although they went extinct, their legacy lives on in the genes of many people today.