Professor Chris Stringer

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

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

And sometimes in, say, chimpanzees and so on, you will see a group of males who run out of female mates. They will raid another group and steal some females. And of course, that could have happened as well. Maybe some of these pioneering groups, largely males, actually stole some Neanderthal females and brought them into their group. And then they interbred with them.

And sometimes in, say, chimpanzees and so on, you will see a group of males who run out of female mates. They will raid another group and steal some females. And of course, that could have happened as well. Maybe some of these pioneering groups, largely males, actually stole some Neanderthal females and brought them into their group. And then they interbred with them.

And sometimes in, say, chimpanzees and so on, you will see a group of males who run out of female mates. They will raid another group and steal some females. And of course, that could have happened as well. Maybe some of these pioneering groups, largely males, actually stole some Neanderthal females and brought them into their group. And then they interbred with them.

and thus Neanderthal DNA was introduced into Homo sapiens in that way so not necessarily a nice start to the process but certainly those babies were then successfully brought up in the Homo sapiens groups and ultimately integrated with the Homo sapiens groups and through later generations that Neanderthal DNA a lot of it disappeared

and thus Neanderthal DNA was introduced into Homo sapiens in that way so not necessarily a nice start to the process but certainly those babies were then successfully brought up in the Homo sapiens groups and ultimately integrated with the Homo sapiens groups and through later generations that Neanderthal DNA a lot of it disappeared

and thus Neanderthal DNA was introduced into Homo sapiens in that way so not necessarily a nice start to the process but certainly those babies were then successfully brought up in the Homo sapiens groups and ultimately integrated with the Homo sapiens groups and through later generations that Neanderthal DNA a lot of it disappeared

So it seems that within a few thousand years, most of the Neanderthal DNA that had been acquired had been selected away. But bits of it were actually enhanced and became more common. And that's a very interesting area, of course. But it suggests that some of these bits of Neanderthal DNA could have been advantageous for our Homo sapiens people 40 or 45,000 years ago.

So it seems that within a few thousand years, most of the Neanderthal DNA that had been acquired had been selected away. But bits of it were actually enhanced and became more common. And that's a very interesting area, of course. But it suggests that some of these bits of Neanderthal DNA could have been advantageous for our Homo sapiens people 40 or 45,000 years ago.

So it seems that within a few thousand years, most of the Neanderthal DNA that had been acquired had been selected away. But bits of it were actually enhanced and became more common. And that's a very interesting area, of course. But it suggests that some of these bits of Neanderthal DNA could have been advantageous for our Homo sapiens people 40 or 45,000 years ago.

Yes. I mean, that's one of the interesting questions. So obviously we know there was a two-way exchange of DNA maybe 300,000 years ago. between us and Neanderthals. But at that time, the lineages, of course, were more closely related. They were closer to the common ancestor. But by the time we get to 60,000 or 50,000 years ago, the groups had diverged even further genetically and physically.

Yes. I mean, that's one of the interesting questions. So obviously we know there was a two-way exchange of DNA maybe 300,000 years ago. between us and Neanderthals. But at that time, the lineages, of course, were more closely related. They were closer to the common ancestor. But by the time we get to 60,000 or 50,000 years ago, the groups had diverged even further genetically and physically.

Yes. I mean, that's one of the interesting questions. So obviously we know there was a two-way exchange of DNA maybe 300,000 years ago. between us and Neanderthals. But at that time, the lineages, of course, were more closely related. They were closer to the common ancestor. But by the time we get to 60,000 or 50,000 years ago, the groups had diverged even further genetically and physically.

And so it's possible, and this is one of the strange things, when we look at all the early Homo sapiens fossils that we've got, All of them have signs of Neanderthal interbreeding in that period between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago, whether we're looking at China or whether we're looking at Europe.

And so it's possible, and this is one of the strange things, when we look at all the early Homo sapiens fossils that we've got, All of them have signs of Neanderthal interbreeding in that period between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago, whether we're looking at China or whether we're looking at Europe.

And so it's possible, and this is one of the strange things, when we look at all the early Homo sapiens fossils that we've got, All of them have signs of Neanderthal interbreeding in that period between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago, whether we're looking at China or whether we're looking at Europe.

But when we look at the Neanderthals from the same time period, oddly, none of them show any signs of recent Homo sapiens interbreeding. Now, that might mean that it only went one way, that the groups, for some reason, didn't tolerate interbreeding with each other in one direction or the other.

But when we look at the Neanderthals from the same time period, oddly, none of them show any signs of recent Homo sapiens interbreeding. Now, that might mean that it only went one way, that the groups, for some reason, didn't tolerate interbreeding with each other in one direction or the other.

But when we look at the Neanderthals from the same time period, oddly, none of them show any signs of recent Homo sapiens interbreeding. Now, that might mean that it only went one way, that the groups, for some reason, didn't tolerate interbreeding with each other in one direction or the other.