An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals

Abstract The causes of Neanderthal disappearance about 40,000 years ago remain highly contested. Over a dozen serious hypotheses are currently endorsed to explain this enigmatic event. Given the relatively large number of contending explanations and the relatively large number of participants in the...

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Autores principales:	Krist Vaesen, Gerrit L. Dusseldorp, Mark J. Brandt
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/484be04f8ff4402eaa51e554af1b24f3
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:484be04f8ff4402eaa51e554af1b24f3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:484be04f8ff4402eaa51e554af1b24f32021-12-02T11:37:23ZAn emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals10.1038/s41598-021-84410-72045-2322https://doaj.org/article/484be04f8ff4402eaa51e554af1b24f32021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84410-7https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The causes of Neanderthal disappearance about 40,000 years ago remain highly contested. Over a dozen serious hypotheses are currently endorsed to explain this enigmatic event. Given the relatively large number of contending explanations and the relatively large number of participants in the debate, it is unclear how strongly each contender is supported by the research community. What does the community actually believe about the demise of Neanderthals? To address this question, we conducted a survey among practicing palaeo-anthropologists (total number of respondents = 216). It appears that received wisdom is that demography was the principal cause of the demise of Neanderthals. In contrast, there is no received wisdom about the role that environmental factors and competition with modern humans played in the extinction process; the research community is deeply divided about these issues. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that palaeo-anthropologists’ stand in the debate co-varies with their socio-political views and attitudes. We found no evidence for such a correlation.Krist VaesenGerrit L. DusseldorpMark J. BrandtNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Krist Vaesen Gerrit L. Dusseldorp Mark J. Brandt An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
description	Abstract The causes of Neanderthal disappearance about 40,000 years ago remain highly contested. Over a dozen serious hypotheses are currently endorsed to explain this enigmatic event. Given the relatively large number of contending explanations and the relatively large number of participants in the debate, it is unclear how strongly each contender is supported by the research community. What does the community actually believe about the demise of Neanderthals? To address this question, we conducted a survey among practicing palaeo-anthropologists (total number of respondents = 216). It appears that received wisdom is that demography was the principal cause of the demise of Neanderthals. In contrast, there is no received wisdom about the role that environmental factors and competition with modern humans played in the extinction process; the research community is deeply divided about these issues. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that palaeo-anthropologists’ stand in the debate co-varies with their socio-political views and attitudes. We found no evidence for such a correlation.
format	article
author	Krist Vaesen Gerrit L. Dusseldorp Mark J. Brandt
author_facet	Krist Vaesen Gerrit L. Dusseldorp Mark J. Brandt
author_sort	Krist Vaesen
title	An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
title_short	An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
title_full	An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
title_fullStr	An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
title_full_unstemmed	An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals
title_sort	emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of neanderthals
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/484be04f8ff4402eaa51e554af1b24f3
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An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals

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