The Neanderthals remain something of a mystery in the story of human descent. Scientists still debate whether they are a closely related sub-species of modern humans or represent a collateral line of late Homo erectus, related to but not ancestral to modern humans. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis--"Neanderthal Man"--was a robust human species occupying Europe and western Asia from approximately 135,000 to 30,000 years ago. They flourished in both warm interglacial periods and in the challenging conditions …
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…with such competence and flair that their authenticity--and their astonishing antiquity of 15,000 to 17,000 years--was at first questioned. Note the missile or slash marks near the horse and the spear or arrow near the cow's chest. Such features suggest that these images were used in a ritual or magical enactment of the hunt. Note the rectangular figure near the ibex, which has been interpreted as a trap by some, or an absract pictograph (symbol) by others.