Why did the Neanderthals survive so long on the Iberian Peninsula?
“Neanderthal man had a complex, sophisticated culture, and was ‘modernizing’ when he disappeared,” says Ariane Burke, an archeologist in the Department of Anthropology. Burke is an expert on the Paleolithic period, which lasted from about 3 million to 12,000 years ago. Her special interest is Neanderthal man, which has been reclassified as a separate species rather than a sub-species of Homo sapiens. Burke’s work in the Crimea (Ukraine) revealed that Neanderthal man had mastered the art of communal hunting just as well as Homo sapiens – and with it, social coordination, making deliberate plans, and organizing joint seasonal moves. And he was no slouch when it came to making tools, either. The Iberian Peninsula – Spain and Portugal – was home to the last remaining representatives of the species. Burke is looking for new dig sites in the region of Alentejo, near the Algarve in southern Portugal, hoping to find out why the species disappeared. “We want to find out why the Neanderthals sur
