Or maybe “loner-ism.” IFL Science reports on new research showing that what might have led to the demise of Neanderthals as a distinct kind of human was the lack of a social network:
Scientists at the University of Montreal fed heaps of archaeological and ethnographic data into computer models that are typically used to study the distribution of flora and fauna. Instead, the algorithms were slightly tweaked to build a picture of different prehistoric human populations and their spatial distribution across Europe.
“Obviously, we don’t have precise demographic data for populations living 35,000 years ago, so we used ethnographic data from better-documented ancient hunter-gatherer groups to set parameters for the geomatics tools and generate these models,” Ariane Burke, a professor of anthropology at Université de Montréal and head of the Hominin Dispersals Research Group in Quebec, explained in a statement.
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The study focused on the period between 60,000 and 35,000 years ago, a tumultuous time that saw dramatic climate shifts, the spread of Homo sapiens across Eurasia, and ultimately the extinction of the Neanderthals. However, the team found that climate stress and direct competition with Homo sapiens couldn’t fully account for the Neanderthals’ disappearance.
What could help to explain their vanishing act, they argue, was connectivity. Homo sapiens tended to be associated with regions that are far more interconnected than those inhabited by Neanderthals. These well-connected regions were often strung along southern, coastal routes, keeping populations spread enough to remain in contact with neighbouring communities. In times of hardship, whether it be a climate upset or competition with other species, this proved decisive.
“These networks act as a safety net,” explained Burke. “They allow for the exchange of information on resources and animal migrations, the forming of partnerships, and temporary access to other territories in the event of a crisis.”
The paper also highlights how the Neanderthal population of Europe split into two groups under stress: one in the West, another in the East. In Eastern Europe, the groups were less well-connected and, by no surprise, they also disappeared first. In contrast, populations in the Iberian Peninsula, at the western edge of Europe, were better connected and held on to become some of the very last Neanderthals on Earth.
You can read more of Burke’s Neanderthal research here, in Quaternary Science Reviews.