Tools Test Debunks 'Dumb Neanderthals' Theory

"This assumption was published in all the textbooks but has never been tested thoroughly," Eren said. Therefore, his team decided to create both tools from scratch and then pit the flake against the blade in terms of efficiency and utility.

The result: No clear winner. In fact, in some instances, the Neanderthals' flake worked slightly better than theHomo sapiens'blade, Eren said.

So, the "intellectual advantage" theory of why modern humans survived and Neanderthals did not has taken yet another blow, the experts said.

Adler pointed out that, for a period of time much earlier in their history, Neanderthals and even pre-Neanderthals had also used "blades," so the technology certainly wasn't new to them. "In fact, I just started excavating a site in Armenia this summer that has blades from 200,000-400,000 years ago," he said.

However, it's possible that sharing a distinct type of tool might have served a social purpose that gaveHomo sapiensa survival edge, Eren said. He theorizes that the shared "blade" technology may have drawn the species together culturally into larger and more cohesive groups. It's well known that, by the time of the Neanderthals' demise,Homo sapiensgreatly outnumbered Neanderthals in Europe. In fact, even at their peak population, fewer than 10,000 Neanderthals lived across the whole of Europe and Central Asia, Adler said.

"It is [also] hypothesized, sometimes, that the reproduction levels ofHomo sapienswere much higher than that of Neanderthals," Eren noted. "This might have resulted inHomo sapienssimply outpopulating the Neanderthals out of existence."

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Find out more on human evolution at Minnesota State University.

SOURCES: Metin I. Eren, graduate student, department of archaeology, University of Exeter, U.K., and research associate, department of anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas; Jeffrey Laitman, Ph.D., professor and director, anatomy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; Daniel Adler, Ph.D., department of anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs; Aug. 26, 2008,Journal of Human Evolution, online