Stewart Finlayson - Did Neanderthals live in colder climates than Modern Humans within Eurasia?
Part of #NEANDERTHAL: The Conference which was organised by the Gibraltar National Museum from 13th to 15th September 2018 at the University of Gibraltar.
The degree to which Neanderthals were adapted to the cold conditions of Late Pleistocene Eurasia has been discussed for over three decades. The view that they were hyper-Arctic in their adaptation to cold has been challenged although others remain of the opinion that this was indeed the case. In this presentation I put forward new evidence on this subject, using birds as indicators of climatic conditions. There are many sites across Eurasia that were occupied by Neanderthals and/or Modern Humans and have a good sub-fossil record of associated bird species. This record provides an important, unique and hitherto untested source of information of the climatic conditions experienced by Neanderthals and Modern Humans. The results which will be presented provide conclusive evidence that will establish the climates of the occupation sites of Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Late Pleistocene Eurasia and will answer the question: did Neanderthals live in colder climates than Modern Humans within Eurasia?
© Gibraltar National Museum, 2018
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