Scientists come out in defence of Neanderthals

NEANDERTHALS do not deserve their “stupid” reputation and used stone tools just as good as those invented by early modern humans, say scientists.

The new research challenges the assumption that the ancestors of people living today drove Neanderthals into extinction by outclassing them in tool technology.

Other reasons may now have to be found to explain why Neanderthals vanished from Europe 28,000 years ago, after living alongside modern humans for some 10,000 years.