It’s hard to imagine that just 40,000 years ago, there was another species of humans on Earth. Modern humans and Neanderthals lived amongst each other, they interbred, lived in the same caves, hunted similarly, and both made tools.
Then Neanderthals died off. Researchers aren’t completely sure why, though disease, competition, and other factors might have played a role. But in the end, only one group survived. But what would have happened if Neanderthals had survived and lived either alongside Homo sapiens or by themselves?
It’s impossible to know for sure, but researchers do have some clues. Some researchers, like British anthropologist Chris Stringer, say that while it’s too speculative to discern what would have happened if Neanderthals and H. sapiens had both survived, if "Neanderthals had survived instead of us, there was no reason why they couldn't have eventually achieved all the things we have achieved.”
