Professor Chris Stringer

And in 2010, that was convincingly demonstrated because the first high quality Neanderthal genome was reconstructed, mainly based on material from Croatia, from Vindhya. And that showed that when we look at the genomes of people around the world today, People in Europe and Asia, Australia, the Americas, they have around 2% of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes.

And that is thought to be there because of interbreeding that happened maybe 50,000 years ago.

And that is thought to be there because of interbreeding that happened maybe 50,000 years ago.

And that is thought to be there because of interbreeding that happened maybe 50,000 years ago.

That's right, in our genomes, yes. So around 2% of our DNA comes from that interbreeding, maybe 50,000 years ago. And it means that people in Africa, in a sense, are less closely related to the Neanderthals than we are. So even though I would say we did not evolve from Neanderthals, incredibly, the Neanderthals are still partly our ancestors.

That's right, in our genomes, yes. So around 2% of our DNA comes from that interbreeding, maybe 50,000 years ago. And it means that people in Africa, in a sense, are less closely related to the Neanderthals than we are. So even though I would say we did not evolve from Neanderthals, incredibly, the Neanderthals are still partly our ancestors.

That's right, in our genomes, yes. So around 2% of our DNA comes from that interbreeding, maybe 50,000 years ago. And it means that people in Africa, in a sense, are less closely related to the Neanderthals than we are. So even though I would say we did not evolve from Neanderthals, incredibly, the Neanderthals are still partly our ancestors.

So it seems contradictory, but we didn't evolve from Neanderthals, but they are partly our ancestors. Because today... People have calculated that there could be as much as 40% of the Neanderthal genome around. If you take all the Neanderthal DNA today surviving in the world in our genomes, if you put it all together, it might reconstruct as much as 40% of the whole Neanderthal genome.

So it seems contradictory, but we didn't evolve from Neanderthals, but they are partly our ancestors. Because today... People have calculated that there could be as much as 40% of the Neanderthal genome around. If you take all the Neanderthal DNA today surviving in the world in our genomes, if you put it all together, it might reconstruct as much as 40% of the whole Neanderthal genome.

So it seems contradictory, but we didn't evolve from Neanderthals, but they are partly our ancestors. Because today... People have calculated that there could be as much as 40% of the Neanderthal genome around. If you take all the Neanderthal DNA today surviving in the world in our genomes, if you put it all together, it might reconstruct as much as 40% of the whole Neanderthal genome.

And so interestingly, there's far more Neanderthal DNA around today because there are billions of us than there was at the time the Neanderthals were alive.

And so interestingly, there's far more Neanderthal DNA around today because there are billions of us than there was at the time the Neanderthals were alive.

And so interestingly, there's far more Neanderthal DNA around today because there are billions of us than there was at the time the Neanderthals were alive.

Yes. So, of course, that brings us on to the question of how the interbreeding happened. And obviously, if we go down to the details, we obviously know how it happened on a one-to-one basis, a Neanderthal mated with the Homo sapiens. But when we move on to how that was happening, what was the process before that happened?

Yes. So, of course, that brings us on to the question of how the interbreeding happened. And obviously, if we go down to the details, we obviously know how it happened on a one-to-one basis, a Neanderthal mated with the Homo sapiens. But when we move on to how that was happening, what was the process before that happened?

Yes. So, of course, that brings us on to the question of how the interbreeding happened. And obviously, if we go down to the details, we obviously know how it happened on a one-to-one basis, a Neanderthal mated with the Homo sapiens. But when we move on to how that was happening, what was the process before that happened?

We don't know, of course, how many of these conflicts were friendly and how many might have been more hostile. And we will learn more about this. But

We don't know, of course, how many of these conflicts were friendly and how many might have been more hostile. And we will learn more about this. But

We don't know, of course, how many of these conflicts were friendly and how many might have been more hostile. And we will learn more about this. But

it's quite possible of course that there were at times if the groups had been on the landscape for long enough and adapted to the presence of the other groups they might have exchanged partners in a peaceful way as modern hunter-gatherer groups do at times they exchange partners peaceably and it's it's a kind of negotiated thing to exchange partners so that could be what happened in some places but because the other possibility is what we see sometimes in hunter-gatherer groups