The physical, cultural, and bio-genetic landscape of the last Neanderthals

Project Information

LAST NEANDERTHALS

Grant agreement ID: 101118565

DOI

10.3030/101118565

EC signature date 25 April 2024

Start date 1 June 2024

End date 31 May 2030

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 12 920 328,00

EU contribution

€ 12 920 328,00

Coordinated by

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LAST NEANDERTHALS (The physical, cultural, and bio-genetic landscape of the last Neanderthals)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, abruptly disappeared 40 thousand years ago (ka) after having endured for 350 thousand years in a territory ranging from the Iberian Peninsula to southern Siberia. Decades-long research attempted to address the cultural aspects and the demographic and environmental factors that triggered their demise. Yet, there are no widely accepted scenarios that satisfactorily explain the extinction of the Neanderthal. These shortcomings are in part because the data available originated from a limited number of sites mainly in western and central Europe, which we now know were peripheral to the range of the last Neanderthals. To compellingly reconstruct the chain of events that led to Neanderthal’s extinction, the scientific community needs new extensive archaeological data, possibly from the core regions of the last Neanderthals’ range. Areas of western and central Asia and eastern and southeastern Europe were at the core of this range, served as gateways to marginal areas, and witnessed Neanderthals’ bio-cultural interactions with Sapiens and Denisovans. For the first time, three PIs with vast expertise on Neanderthals’ culture, biology, and paleoenvironments will synergistically attempt to bridge the knowledge gap between the core and the periphery of their range at the time of their decline between 60-40ka. Project LAST NEANDERTHALS will 1) accurately collect, date, integrate, and model new high-resolution cultural, bio-genetic, and environmental data from understudied areas in western and central Asia and eastern and southeastern Europe; 2) provide an unprecedented perspective on the last Neanderthals’ population dynamics; 3) offer a comprehensive and compelling explanation of the mechanisms that led to their extinction by integrating data from their entire range and formulating and testing nuanced hypotheses using new models and simulations; 4) serve as a proxy for the fate shared by all archaic human groups.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the reporting period, the project implemented an integrated programme of fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and data infrastructure development aimed at reconstructing late Neanderthal and early modern human behaviour across Eurasia. Extensive archaeological excavations, surveys, and sampling campaigns were carried out in multiple regions, generating new high-resolution datasets on faunal exploitation, lithic technology, human remains, sediments, and paleoenvironmental proxies. Laboratory work led to the systematic study of large faunal assemblages, the creation of standardized zooarchaeological databases, and the application of advanced microscopic, proteomic, isotopic, and morphometric techniques. Parallel developments in dental histology, 3D analysis of lithics, and use-wear and residue studies resulted in harmonized analytical protocols and improved reproducibility across research units.
Major achievements include the identification and documentation of tens of thousands of faunal remains, the establishment of integrated databases linking cultural, biological, and environmental evidence, and the successful recovery of ancient DNA from both human remains and sediments at several key sites.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results go beyond the current state of the art by combining, for the first time at this scale, zooarchaeology, paleoproteomics, sedimentary and skeletal ancient DNA, high-resolution geochronology, and digital morphometrics within a single comparative framework. This integration enables more precise reconstructions of subsistence strategies, landscape use, and human–environment interactions, opening new perspectives on population dynamics and behavioural variability during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition.