Neanderthals left, then returned
This gives this cave, for all those who wonder about the fate of the Neanderthals, a unique value: it is the only known place where Neanderthals left, then returned.
And the analysis of the layers of soot is precise enough that we were able to determine that barely a year had passed, 54,000 years ago, between the penultimate occupation of the Neanderthals and their replacement. by A wise man.
Therefore, the question of interactions between the two groups arises, explains Ludovic Slimak, from the Toulouse Center for Anthropology and Genomics, lead author of the 2022 study.
Cooperation between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens?
Slimak is among those who believe there was cooperation, not confrontation, between the two groups, based on similarities between the types of arrowheads used by groups separated by a hundred kilometers.
And also, based on the fact that Neanderthals returned, and continued to reside in this cave for 12,000 years, after their first encounter with A wise man.
