Who was the last Neanderthal?

Neanderthals once roamed Eurasia, but they disappeared around the time Homo sapiens reached Europe. One big question has stumped archaeologists for decades: Who were the last Neanderthals, and where did they live?

We don't know for sure, but most evidence points to the Iberian Peninsula, which encompasses what is now Spain and Portugal.

Last Neanderthal location

Many archaeologists think the last Neanderthals lived in southern Iberia because sites in this region look a little different than those elsewhere in Europe.

Neanderthals created certain types of tools, named Mousterian after a Neanderthal site in France. This type of tool was invented 160,000 years ago and largely disappeared by 40,000 years ago across most of Europe, presumably along with its Neanderthal creators.

But archaeologists have found Mousterian tools at southern Iberian Neanderthal sites that were made after that time. These objects may be evidence that Neanderthals clung to the region, possibly taking refuge from climate changes affecting other parts of Europe.

To show that Neanderthals were alive where such tools were found, however, archaeologists ideally need undisturbed, uncontaminated layers in which they find materials clearly tied to Neanderthals' activities — such as bones with cut marks, bone tools, and charcoal that was purposefully burned.

That's where things get complicated — especially because many Neanderthal sites were excavated or dated before people knew how to avoid contaminating ancient samples.