Small bands of them took refuge now and then in a massive cave near the southern tip of Spain. Now a study says charcoal from their fires indicates that Neanderthals were still alive at least 2,000 years later than scientists had firmly established before.
"Maybe these are the last ones," said Clive Finlayson of The Gibraltar Museum, who reported the findings Wednesday with colleagues on the Web site of the journal Nature.
The paper says the charcoal samples from the cave, called Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar, are about 28,000 years old and maybe just 24,000 years old.
It would be interesting if eventually the last Neandertals ended up being within the cultural memories of historical european populations. Highly doubtful, but it'd be fun if the one of the older culture's had encountered them and passed down that experience as a warped myth or legend.
Maybe I should scribble some notes as a tie back to this setting.
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