The Neanderthals, once inhabitants of Eurasia, vanished around the time Homo sapiens arrived in Europe. A lingering mystery that has puzzled archaeologists for decades is the identity and location of the last Neanderthal communities. While much of the evidence points to the Iberian Peninsula, encompassing present-day Spain and Portugal, definitive answers remain elusive.
Many archaeologists believe the last Neanderthals resided in southern Iberia due to distinct characteristics observed at archaeological sites in this region. Neanderthals crafted specialized tools, known as Mousterian, named after a Neanderthal site in France. These tools, invented around 160,000 years ago, largely disappeared from most of Europe by 40,000 years ago, mirroring the decline of their Neanderthal creators. However, archaeologists have unearthed Mousterian tools at southern Iberian Neanderthal sites dating back beyond this period, suggesting that Neanderthals persisted in this region, potentially seeking refuge from climate changes impacting other parts of Europe.
To conclusively prove the presence of Neanderthals at sites where these tools were found, archaeologists ideally need undisturbed, uncontaminated layers containing artifacts directly linked to Neanderthal activities. This includes bone fragments with cut marks, bone tools, and purposefully burned charcoal. This is where things become complicated, particularly considering that numerous Neanderthal sites were excavated or dated before the development of methods to prevent contamination of ancient samples.
For many years, Gibraltar, a British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, was considered the last Neanderthal stronghold. In 1848, the British navy discovered a Neanderthal skull in Forbes’ Quarry Cave, and excavations at Gorham’s Cave commenced in the early 1990s. Within this cave, excavators unearthed numerous Mousterian artifacts and a hearth with charcoal. In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Nature in 2006, zoologist Clive Finlayson and colleagues used radiocarbon dating on three hearth samples, obtaining dates between 28,000 and 22,000 years ago – thousands of years after Neanderthals were believed to have gone extinct. This discovery led Finlayson and his colleagues to propose that these ‘last Neanderthals’ had access to a diverse array of plants and animals within this limited area, potentially contributing to their prolonged survival.
However, subsequent research cast doubt on these dates. In a 2014 study in Nature, archaeological scientist Tom Higham and colleagues employed advanced radiocarbon techniques and statistical modeling to demonstrate that many of the previously published dates, including the very late date of Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar, were inaccurate. After reanalyzing the dates of 40 sites, Higham and his team concluded that Neanderthals did not persist beyond approximately 39,000 to 37,000 years ago.
The search for Neanderthals’ final stand continues, with Cueva Antón, a cave in southeastern Spain excavated by archaeologist João Zilhão, emerging as a potential candidate. In a 2021 study published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, Zilhão presented findings that dated charcoal at the site to 36,600 years ago. Although considered an interesting potential site, the limited number of stone tools found there raises some uncertainty about the dating evidence.
Rather than focusing on the ‘last’ Neanderthals, Higham suggests that ‘across Europe and probably Eurasia, there was a mosaic of different groups.’ He believes that Neanderthals were absorbed into groups of modern humans, rather than experiencing a separate extinction event. This implies that pinpointing the exact location and time of the last Neanderthals may prove impossible.
Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, acknowledges the extensive range of Neanderthals, stretching from Wales to Siberia, making it highly unlikely to stumble upon the very last representatives of the species across such a vast area. However, he remains optimistic that advancements in sampling and dating techniques will shed further light on the regions displaying the youngest Neanderthal dates.
