Discovery of 16 human bones changed the course of history. How they survived 40,000 years ago and did climate change made them extinct?

In 1856, a group of quarry workers made a startling discovery. They came across no less than 16 bones in Neander Valley in the west of Germany. These bones were thick, heavy, and “humanlike but not quite human” as per a BBC report. The discovery, made three years before Charles Darwin released On the Origin of Species, sparked intense scientific debate and opened new avenues of research.

It challenged long-held beliefs about the natural world and set in motion a wave of investigations that transformed humanity’s understanding of evolution and the development of life on Earth. The implications of this breakthrough continued to shape scientific thought for generations, providing crucial insights into the origins of living organisms and helping place humankind within the vast and complex story of life’s history.

BBC Global visited the Neanderthal Museum, where a tower marks the spot where the bones of humanity’s ancestor, Kleiner Felhoffer Grota, now termed ‘Neanderthal 1’ were found.


The bones, when discovered, were taken to the local school teacher Johan Carl Fugot, who then claimed they belonged to an ancient prehistoric human. This was a radical idea in the 19th century, as most scientists believed humans were a fixed species, unchanged since creation. Eight years later, geologist William King suggested that the bones weren’t just ancient homo sapiens but belonged to a different species. He termed the species Homo Neanderthalensis.

In coming years, remains of Neanderthals' were found throughout the globe - Spy Caves in 1886, Le Moustier in 1900, Monte Circo in 1939 etc.

As for the cave in Germany where the famous Neanderthal 1 fossil was originally discovered, it no longer exists. Over the years, extensive limestone extraction operations completely erased the site, leaving no trace of the original cave. The location, which once yielded one of the most significant fossil finds in human evolutionary history, was destroyed as quarrying activities expanded through the area. Although the cave itself has vanished, the discovery made there continues to hold immense scientific importance, providing valuable evidence about our ancient relatives and helping researchers better understand the story of human evolution.

Among the rubble, researchers eventually found remains of one new Neanderthal and three bone fragments that confirmed they found neanderthal 1 ( he existed 40,000 years ago),himself.

The fragments also matched the 16 bones found in 1856.

Paleoanthropologist Dustin Welper, neanderthal 1 was 40-45 years old. An injury on his left arm indicates that he may have been hurt during a hunting incident. How he died was unknown. Our understanding of Neanderthals continues to change as new discoveries challenge long-standing assumptions about who they were and how they lived. Evidence suggesting that Neanderthals may have deliberately buried their dead points to a level of social and cultural complexity that was once thought to be unique to modern humans. Such practices imply the existence of shared beliefs, emotional bonds, and community traditions, indicating that Neanderthal groups were far more sophisticated than the crude, unintelligent beings they were often portrayed as in popular stereotypes.

They also interbred with humans to such an extent that 2-3 % of no African human DNA has Neanderthal origins.

Who Was Neanderthal?

According to an article published on the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Neanderthals' were our closest extinct human relative. They were a lot short and stockier than we are. The males for example were barely 5 foot 5 inches tall.

Neanderthals exercised a diverse set of tools, mastered use and control of fire, made and wore clothing, lived in shelters, were skilled hunters, yet ate plant food. They also buried their dead and offered flowers to graves. No other primates or earlier human species engaged in such sophisticated behaviour.

Unlike the earliest human populations in tropical Africa, where fruits, roots, and other edible vegetation were accessible throughout the year, Neanderthals lived in much colder environments where plant-based food sources became scarce during the harsh winter months.

As temperatures dropped and vegetation became limited, they had to depend far more on animal-based foods to meet their nutritional needs. Research suggests that Neanderthals adapted remarkably well to these challenging conditions by becoming highly skilled hunters who adjusted their prey according to the changing seasons. Rather than relying on a single food source, they targeted different animals depending on which species were most abundant at a particular time of year. For example, reindeer formed an important part of their diet during winter, while red deer were more commonly hunted during the warmer summer months.

There is also evidence from Gibraltar area that they also ate marine creatures such as mollusks, seals, dolphins and fish. They also developed a stone tool industry - the Mousterian. It involved creating flake tools from a stone core. These tools were used both for hunting and sewing. Scientists have uncovered scrapers and awls (predecessor to the sewing needle) that were used to turn animal hides into clothes.

All traces of Neanderthals disappeared 40,000 years ago. The article published in the Smithsonian Magazine theorised that climate change may well have been a factor behind the extinction of Neanderthals, but proof is yet to be found. Scientists are still in the process of finding out what led to their extinction.