that finished off our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals, according
to a new study.
The ancient humans are thought to have died out in most parts of Europe by about 35,000 years ago.
And now new data from their last known refuge in
southern Iberia indicates the final population was probably beaten by a
cold spell some 24,000 years ago.
The research is reported by experts from the Gibraltar Museum and Spain.
They say a climate downturn may have caused a drought,
placing pressure on the last surviving Neanderthals by reducing their
supplies of fresh water and killing off the animals they hunted.
Sediment cores drilled from the sea bed near the
Balearic Islands show the average sea-surface temperature plunged to 8C
(46F). Modern-day sea surface temperatures in the same region vary from
14C (57F) to 20C (68F).
In addition, increased amounts of sand were deposited in
the sea and the amount of river water running into the sea also
plummeted.
Southern refuge
Neanderthals appear in the fossil record about 350,000
years ago and, at their peak, these squat, physically powerful hunters
dominated a wide range, spanning Britain and Iberia in the west to
Israel in the south and Uzbekistan in the east.
Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa, and displaced the Neanderthals after entering Europe about 40,000 years ago.
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