A Neanderthal skull that was crushed to bits 75,000 years ago has been pieced back together and used to recreate the face of a wise-looking archaic woman with dark, flowing hair.
And now, with the help of surface scans and 3D-printing techniques, archaeologists have brought her synthetic face to life — muscle, skin and all. They detailed their efforts in a new documentary titled"Secrets of the Neanderthals," which launched on Netflix May 2. Neanderthals were the closest relatives of modern humans. They lived in Eurasia from around 400,000 years ago until they died out approximately 40,000 years ago. However, during that time, possibly as far back as 250,000 years ago, Neanderthals interbred with Homo sapiens who'd ventured out of Africa and into Eurasia. The genetic legacy of these interbreeding events still lives on today.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over."It's perhaps easier to see how interbreeding occurred between our species, to the extent that almost everyone alive today still has Neanderthal DNA," Pomeroy said.