Tenfold Population Increase in Western Europe at the Neandertal–to–Modern Human Transition
@article{Mellars2011TenfoldPI, title={Tenfold Population Increase in Western Europe at the Neandertal–to–Modern Human Transition}, author={P. Mellars and Jennifer C. French}, journal={Science}, year={2011}, volume={333}, pages={623 - 627} }
The ability of modern humans to sustain larger populations contributed to the decline of Neandertals in Western Europe. European Neandertals were replaced by modern human populations from Africa ~40,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence from the best-documented region of Europe shows that during this replacement human populations increased by one order of magnitude, suggesting that numerical supremacy alone may have been a critical factor in facilitating this replacement.
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