In a game-changing Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences article, a multinational team of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists have produced persuasive evidence that shows northern European Neanderthals disappeared much earlier than previously suspected. Applying the latest radiocarbon dating technology, the scientists re-tested European Neanderthal specimens discovered in Belgium’s Grotte de Spy (or Spy Cave), which had previously been dated to around 35,000 BC.
As it turns out, this initial dating was off by several thousand years. It seems the European Neanderthal specimens recovered from Spy Cave actually belonged to individuals who had lived between the years 42,200 BC and 38,600 BC.
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