Neanderthals May Still Be Here

An icon of minerals-to-meteorologist evolution is the Neanderthal, which was portrayed as a hulking brute. Stupid, too, since it still had some of its apelike ancestor in its nature. Some folks still believe that image and call someone a Neanderthal as an insult.

As extensive documentation reveals, Neanderthals were intelligent and creative. Evolutionists were forced to admit that Neanderthals were fully human. Indeed, their DNA is found in most population groups (but is rare in sub-Saharan groups). A controversy remains: Where did they go?

Image cropped and enhanced, original: Flickr / Clemens Vasters (CC BY 2.0)

Since they were fully human and freely shared their DNA, they most likely did not go extinct. Instead, they probably assimilated. We have met the Neanderthal, and he is us. Lonely Neanderthal boy sees a group of modern humans and is attracted to a woman. Next thing you know, they married up and he is a part of that clan. That's because they were created, not evolved, just like us.

In an interesting short essay at The Conversation last month, University of Durham’s Paul Pettitt observed:

Despite the fact that we know that Neanderthals were capable of producing jewellery and using coloured pigments, there has been much objection to the notion that they explored deep caves and left art on the walls.

But recent work has confirmed beyond doubt that they did. 

“Were Neanderthals capable of making art?", October 28, 2025

Why was there “much objection?” Did archaeologists feel that way about the Rosetta Stone? King Tut’s tomb? Not that I’ve heard.

Pettitt doesn’t quite spell out the nature of the problem but maybe we can help. Briefly, this echo from the past (Neanderthal as artist) is an unwelcome one in some quarters. As I noted here earlier, many archaeologists have long assumed that Neanderthals were less mentally evolved than modern humans. They are quite sure that there has been a long, slow, gradual, and completely natural Ascent of Man, from mud to mind.

You can read the rest of this article (it is from the Intelligent Design community and the author accepts millions of years of ancestry) at "Perhaps Neanderthals Never Truly Went Extinct." Also from the ID folks is something to consider (and is written by a biblical creationist), "With Neanderthals and Denisovans, We Are All the Same Kind of Being."