Did Homo sapiens get into Conflicts and Fights With the Neanderthals around 50,000 Years Ago? — Here’s What New Discoveries Suggest

The modern human species has many recorded wars and conflicts in history. However, what if our ancestors did not only just fight with themselves, but with other human species too? Research shows that around 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began spreading around the world, arriving in Asia, Europe, and the rest.

But when they migrated to a new environment outside of their original habitat, Africa, some continents already had an established population of hominins, such as Neanderthals in Western Asia and later Europe. This scenario could have led to a complex type of relationship, which could have involved both fierce competition and even interbreeding. So, in this article, let’s explore the past and find out what the new discoveries and studies suggest happened back then.

Coexistence and Interaction

Homo sapiens are believed to have evolved and stayed in Africa for over 200,000 years before they finally successfully migrated out to Asia. These regions, such as the modern-day Middle East, are where they first met the Neanderthals. Scientists theorized that the two human species may have interacted in these key locations.

The modern human population outside of Africa has about 1 to 4% of their DNA coming from the Neanderthals. This discovery is proof that our ancestors coexisted and interbred with this other human species. However, could two distinct hominins really peacefully live in the same habitat, without violent competition and conflicts?

Read more: Wikipedia

Evidence of Violence or Conflict?

The Brutal Reality of Neanderthal Violence

The evidence that may have pointed to Homo sapiens and Neanderthals having physical fights or conflicts is very rare, indirect, or open to interpretation. Based on our DNA, we know that these two hominins have met, interacted, and interbred. They may have shared lands, tools, and culture, too, when they lived together in the same environment.

However, if climate change and other natural disasters struck their habitats, they could have also been forced to directly compete with each other for the limited resources. This possibility of competition prompted scientists to hypothesize whether they could have also physically and violently fought each other.

While there were probably no large-scale wars between the two species, since the level of cognitive abilities and social organization necessary to coordinate a big population is highly unlikely to be present at the time, there still could be small groups having skirmishes. Skeleton fossils of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals also support that there may have been some interpersonal violence, which could have come from the same species or others.

For example, a Neanderthal in the Shanidar Cave in Iraq, which was dated to be around 50,000 years ago, had a possible stab wound from a sharp object in its left rib. But, attributing those injuries to Homo sapiens would need more evidence that we currently do not have. They may have come from the same members of their tribe, or it could also be an injury sustained during hunting.

What Might Have Led to Conflict?

Even when Homo sapiens migrated to Asia and Europe, which already had Neanderthals, they were still living in relatively small groups. Neanderthals were also recorded to be prone to inbreeding and genetic diseases, suggesting they did not have a huge population group living together as a tribe.

In other words, the conflict between the two species is most likely not on a large scale, but instead just skirmishes. The warfare that resembles modern history was thought to have been more common after the Neolithic Revolution or transition of our ancestors from hunter-gatherers to farmers. But, if there really was a violent conflict between the two groups, what could have directly caused it? One possibility is territorial defense and resource competition.

Neanderthals had already been existing on the continent for hundreds of thousands of years before Homo sapiens arrived. They were also both top predator species that hunted big animals in their areas. So, when Homo sapiens came, Neanderthals may have acted in defense of their lands and resources. They are also a species who are already capable of utilizing stone tools and weapons to hunt, and to possibly fight each other for mating.

However, Homo sapiens are believed to be more technologically advanced. Our ancestors may have already learned how to use projectile weapons such as throwing spears before they even arrived at Neanderthal territories. This is why there was also some research exploring whether modern humans may have directly and violently caused the extinction of Neanderthals, but still, the current view was that their disappearance was because of a multitude of factors, and not just one.

Read more: Discover Magazine

Current View and What It Means

Who Killed the Neanderthal? | FD Ancient History

Today, most scientists believe that the interaction and relationship between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals is complex. They did not simply fight a war with each other or peacefully coexist, to interbred. Instead, evidences suggest that they had different sorts of engagement, likely depending on the circumstances.

If the habitat, which they both lived in, was abundant and capable of supporting both groups, they may have shared land and only occasionally competed. However, if the environment only provided limited resources that could not support both hominins, then they may have been pressured to engage in conflict, but even in this scenario, it is most likely not a large fight, but instead a small confrontation or skirmish.

Additionally, some people may think that Homo sapiens may have won a fight against the Neanderthals, and that’s why they are extinct now, but this is most likely incorrect or inaccurate. Homo neanderthalansis or neanderthals likely disappeared because of several reasons, like living in fragmented and small groups that made them prone to inbreeding and vulnerable to diseases and environmental change.

Neanderthals also likely encountered harsh climate changes that depleted the resources in their natural habitats. Moreover, the competition with not only Homo sapiens, but possibly other hominins could have also added pressure to their survival. In short, the scientific consensus is that Neanderthals are not gone now because of a war with Homo sapiens, but instead because of a combination of multiple reasons.

Author's Final Thoughts

So, did Homo sapiens fight with Neanderthals around 50,000 years ago? Well, they may have had some direct conflicts, but it is most likely a small skirmish rather than a large-scale war. While there are fossils showing that Neanderthals suffered from violent interpersonal behavior, it could also just be from their own group or during hunting, and it would be difficult to attribute it directly to Homo sapiens.

Instead, the interactions that may have happened between the two hominin species were likely very complex. It could have involved interbreeding with each other, sharing of resources and culture, competition for the same hunts, absorption of genetic lineages, and occasional conflicts. Ultimately, Homo sapiens became the only remaining human species, outlasting the Neanderthals and the rest. However, we will move forward carrying their stories and lineages living inside us.

Read next: Why Did the Hobbits, Homo floresiensis, Vanish Around 50,000 Years Ago on an Isolated Island? — Here’s What Researchers Found Out

References & Further Reading

Zollikofer, C. P. E., Ponce de León, M. S., Vandermeersch, B., & Lévêque, F. (2002). Evidence for interpersonal violence in the St. Césaire Neanderthal. PNAS. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.082111899

Churchill, S. E., Franciscus, R. G., McKean-Peraza, H. A., Daniel, J. A., & Warren, B. R. (2009). Shanidar 3 Neandertal rib puncture wound and Paleolithic weaponry. Journal of Human Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.05.010

Higham, T., et al. (2014). The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13621

Hajdinjak, M., et al. (2021). Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3

Beier, J., Anthes, N., Wahl, J., & Harvati, K. (2018). Similar cranial trauma prevalence among Neanderthals and Upper Palaeolithic modern humans. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0696-8

Fabre, V., Condemi, S., & Degioanni, A. (2011). Neanderthals versus modern humans: Evidence for resource competition from isotopic modelling. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3175406/