New study finds close links between Neanderthals that lived on the Rock with those from France

New study finds close links between Neanderthals that lived on the Rock with those from France

A new study has shed light on the close genetic links between the Neanderthals who lived on the Rock and those who lived in France – some 42 to 50 thousand years ago.

Genomic analysis of a Neanderthal from the Rhone Valley showed the man – nicknamed Thorin – was genetically closer to Gibraltar’s own Forbes Quarry skull than any other known Neanderthal.

The Director of the Gibraltar Museum says this shows Gibraltar’s Neanderthals were more closely connected to those from Mediterranean France than to those from Western Europe – some of whom probably lived closer to the Rock. Professor Clive Finlayson says they seem to have been part of a late-surviving and fragmented population.

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