From Bruce Finlayson, North Queensferry, Fife, UK
You looked at a book discussing Neanderthals’ extinction at a time when a separate species, Homo sapiens, moved into their areas. Both populations were distinct prior to interbreeding, and today a vestige of Neanderthal DNA remains in our species(27 September, p 30).
The current genetic mix we see in Homo sapiens today can be fully explained without an “extermination” having taken place. The word over-dramatises things and exaggerates the importance of violent interactions and diverts attention from the very likely collaborative nature of much human interaction.
