Почему вымерли неандертальцы? (С палеодилетантской точки зрения, но с учетом данных полногеномного секвенирования образцов современной и древней ДНК, а также на основе знаний используемых для этого технологий)

Abstract

The reasons for the mysterious disappearance of Neanderthals about 40 thousand years ago, which occurred shortly after the appearance on their territory of people of the modern anatomical type - Cro-Magnons, occupy the minds of many generations of paleoanthropologists. The extinction of the Neanderthals lasted for 2-5 thousand years, depending on the habitat, which can be considered a fairly fast process, since before that they successfully lived in Western Europe for about 300 thousand years in the absence of any competition from other hominins. Several factors contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The main one was demographic, which led to a sharp decline in the population, the cause of which was the superiority of the Cro-Magnons in intelligence and, possibly, their possession of articulate speech, which contributed to better organization in obtaining food. In addition, the Neanderthals' massive physique required more food, with Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons competing for the same resources and territories. It can be assumed that after the appearance of the Cro-Magnons, the Neanderthals lived from hand to mouth, which reduced their birth rate and increased mortality, and at a younger age compared to the Cro-Magnons. Climatic changes (Ice Age) affected, most likely, to a small extent, since the Neanderthals died out in the southern territories of their residence, where a sharp cooling did not occur. As one of the possible reasons for the extinction of the Neanderthals, one cannot exclude infections brought by the Cro-Magnons from Africa, to which the first were unstable. The article also discusses the social aspect: the predecessors of the Neanderthals were probably the first wave of people from Africa who came to the territory of present-day Western Europe about 600 thousand years ago; the second wave can be considered the Cro-Magnons, who followed the same path from Africa through the Near and Middle East. In the coming third millennium of the new era, Western Europe is already facing the third wave of migrants - Afrasians, following almost the same path. It can be assumed that due to the better birth rate among the latter and a number of other circumstances, in a few generations the autochthonous population of Europe will be replaced by newcomers, including through assimilation.