Earlier Neandertal demise suggested by redating

Improved radiocarbon method suggests the group died out longer ago than thought

The story of the Neandertals may need a new ending, a controversial study suggests. Using improved radiocarbon methods, scientists redated two of the youngest known Neandertal cave sites and concluded that they are at least 10,000 years older than previous studies have found.

New radiocarbon dates from two caves in southern Spain (Jarama VI shown) suggest that the last Neandertals may have died out longer ago than scientists had thought.