Were Neanderthals Just Another Version of Humans?

What We Know About Neanderthals Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were a species of archaic humans who lived in Europe and parts of Asia from approximately 400,000 to 28,000 years ago. They shared a common ancestor with modern humans (Homo sapiens) around 600,000 years ago, making them our closest extinct human relatives. Physically, Neanderthals were stockier and more robust than modern humans, with distinctive features including prominent brow ridges, a receding chin, and a larger brain capacity - actually about 10% larger than ours on average.