550,000 YEARS AGO
Homo heidelber-gensis, considered the ancestor of the Neanderthal or the first Neanderthal, arrives in Europe. It’s a member of the Acheulean culture, characteristic of the Lower Paleolithic.
450,000–350,000 YEARS AGO
The Mindel glaciation forces H. heidelbergensis to seek refuge on the Mediterranean coast and in the Near East, where genetically isolated groups continue to evolve.
350,000–300,000 YEARS AGO
During the improvement in the climate following the glaciation, populations with Neanderthal traits recolonize the territories abandoned by their ancestors.
140,000–115,000 YEARS AGO
The conditions of the Riss-Würm interglacial period favor the expansion of Neanderthals and their culture, the Mousterian, which characterizes the Middle Paleolithic period.
50,000–37,000 YEARS AGO
Neanderthals and modern humans likely overlap in Eurasia. New research shows modern humans lived in France’s Rhône Valley 50,000 years…