The misconception of Neanderthals as stooped, brutish, hairy and dumb comes primarily from our preconceived notions. Indeed, even the first skeletal reconstruction of a Neanderthal, which was hunched and bent at the knees, turned out to be the result of French paleontologist Marcellin Boule using bones from an old male Neanderthal with severe arthritis blended with Boule's expectation that Neanderthals were more apelike than human-like.

But research published in Nature Communications shows this long-held belief that Neanderthals are hunched-over brutes is wrong. An international team of scientists analyzed the skeleton of a Neanderthal man using CT scans and discovered the spine was straighter than that of modern-day humans. Also, the skeleton had a wider, lower thorax and a horizontal-shaped rib cage — suggesting Neanderthals had a greater lung capacity and breathed primarily using their diaphragm. Therefore, researchers concluded Neanderthals had better posture and breathed differently than humans.

Additionally, a team from the University of Zurich’s Evolutionary Morphology Group discovered in January 2019 that Neanderthals had a curved lower back and neck similar to humans. Researchers used a computer model to reconstruct a Neanderthal's posture and also uncovered that they had a sacrum, a bone between the hip bones, just like humans do.

Even though we now know the errors in thinking that went into that first reconstruction, it still went a long way toward setting the stage for our "primitive" cousin. However, it turns out that Neanderthals were smart, strong, capable cousins who were far more like humans than you might suspect.

We know this because of several facts that have come to light in recent decades, and these discoveries are changing the old but persistent falsehoods about Neanderthals. Turns out they were the equals of modern humans in many ways. Here are a few things you might not know about them.

1. Neanderthals buried their dead and left grave markers.

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal who lived some 50,000 years ago in what's now Spain, by Italian scientist Fabio Fogliazza. (Photo: Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images)

Studying around 20 grave sites in Western Europe, researchers concluded that Neanderthals sometimes buried their dead. This might seem minor at first glance, considering how seriously we humans take ceremonies and funeral rites for the dead. Indeed, that tradition has long been considered something only modern humans do. But Neanderthals also practiced the act of purposefully burying their dead, perhaps before contact with modern humans.

They may also have left flowers and other grave markers with the deceased.

Writing for Smithsonian magazine, writer Owen Edwards describes the sites in the Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq:

From pollen found in one of the Shanidar graves, [Smithsonian anthropologist Ralph] Solecki hypothesized that flowers had been buried with the Neanderthal dead — until then, such burials had been associated only with Cro-Magnons, the earliest known H. sapiens in Europe. "Someone in the last Ice Age," Solecki wrote, "must have ranged the mountainside in the mournful task of collecting flowers for the dead." Furthermore, Solecki continued, "It seems logical to us today that pretty things like flowers should be placed with the cherished dead, but to find flowers in a Neanderthal burial that took place about 60,000 years ago is another matter."

A new discovery at the site has given the theory even more credence. A partial skeleton, possibly part of the remains of grave sites uncovered in the 1960s, suggest the individually was intentionally buried, and with flowers.

"So from initially being a sceptic based on many of the other published critiques of the flower-burial evidence, I am coming round to think this scenario is much more plausible and I am excited to see the full results of our new analyses," University of Cambridge osteologist and paleoanthropologist Emma Pomeroy, lead author of the research published in the journal Antiquity, told The Guardian.

The symbolic gesture of leaving flowers with the dead is in line with other behavior that reflects symbolic thinking by Neanderthals, including decorating themselves with pigment and jewelry or feathers and shells. No other primate and no other earlier human species practiced burying their dead.

"It is novel evidence that Neanderthals were able to develop, by themselves, some complex symbolic thought," William Rendu, a paleoanthropologist at France's National Center for Scientific Research and New York University told LiveScience. "The behavioral distance between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans seems to become even thinner."

2. Neanderthals were artists.

This ladder-shaped drawing from La Pasiega cave in Spain, featuring horizontal and vertical red lines, was made by Neanderthals more than 64,000 years ago. P. Saura

Not only did Neanderthals think symbolically, but according to a a study published in the journal Science, they made the earliest-known cave art on Earth. The study found that paintings in three Spanish caves were created more than 64,000 years ago — long before modern Homo sapiens arrived in Europe. Neanderthals were the continent's only human species at the time, so this seems to rule out other explanations. It also indicates that Neanderthals had an artistic sensibility much like that of early Homo sapiens.

"Our results show that the paintings we dated are, by far, the oldest known cave art in the world, and were created at least 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe from Africa — therefore they must have been painted by Neanderthals," says lead author Chris Standish, an archaeologist at the University of Southampton, in a statement about the discovery.

Dr. Dirk Hoffman of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology describes and explains their art in the video below.

This is the first time cave art has been so definitively linked to a species other than our own, the researchers note, since earlier claims of Neanderthal art relied on imprecise dating methods. The new study overcame that problem by using a state-of-the-art technique called uranium-thorium dating, which capitalizes on tiny carbonate deposits that build up on cave paintings over time. These deposits contain traces of radioactive uranium and thorium that reveal when the deposits formed — and thus give a minimum age for the art underneath.

All three caves contain red or black paintings of animals, dots and geometric signs, as well as hand stencils, hand prints and engravings, the researchers report. And the evidence suggests these Neanderthal painters were part of a much broader artistic culture, according to study co-author Paul Pettitt of Durham University.

"Neanderthals created meaningful symbols in meaningful places. The art is not a one-off accident," Pettitt says. "We have examples in three caves 700 km apart, and evidence that it was a long-lived tradition. It is quite possible that similar cave art in other caves in Western Europe is of Neanderthal origin as well."

3. Neanderthals knew how to control fire.

Evidence from Neanderthal tools and living sites show they had controlled the use of fire. Alexandr Shevchenko/Shutterstock

The controlled use of fire is one skill that sets humans apart from all other species living today. There was a time when we weren't the only species to regularly start and use fires, however. Neanderthals were skilled at this as well, as a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showed.

The University of Colorado, Boulder, researchers looked at 141 fireplace sites in Europe and noted the kind of evidence of sustained use of fire at each site, including burned bones, heated stone artifacts and charcoal. Their conclusion is that Neanderthals had sustained use of fire starting as far back as 400,000 years ago.

Not only did Neanderthals use fire to cook food, but they also used it to make needed materials.

CU Boulder Today, talking to Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, explains:

According to Villa, one of the most spectacular uses of fire by Neanderthals was in the production of a sticky liquid called pitch from the bark of birch trees that was used by Neanderthals to haft, or fit wooden shafts on, stone tools. Since the only way to create pitch from the trees is to burn bark peels in the absence of air, archaeologists surmise Neanderthals dug holes in the ground, inserted birch bark peels, lit them and covered the hole tightly with stones to block incoming air.

"This means Neanderthals were not only able to use naturally occurring adhesive gums as part of their daily lives, they were actually able to manufacture their own," Villa said. "For those who say Neanderthals did not have elevated mental capacities, I think this is good evidence to the contrary."

4. Neanderthals were extremely skilled hunters.

This flint spearhead, made by a Neanderthal roughly 35,000 years ago, was found near a mammoth skeleton in France. Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images

Neanderthals didn't rely on gathering for their sustenance, but proved to be exceptional hunters with a deep knowledge of the skills needed to capture different types of game as well as strong communication skills to coordinate attacks.

Dutch researcher Gerrit Dusseldorp notes that even the most difficult-to-catch game — including herding animals that are tough to surprise, and other large, powerful animals — were all on the Neanderthal menu. The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, commenting about Dusseldorp's research, adds: "That the Neandertals were capable of hunting down such elusive game demonstrates that they had good coordination skills and could communicate well with each other...Dusseldorp demonstrated that Neandertals, thanks to their intelligence, even surpassed hyenas at capturing the strongest game."

In terms of strength, Neanderthals were not to be trifled with. As the Smithsonian Institution notes, "Neanderthal bones have a high frequency of fractures, which (along with their distribution) are similar to injuries among professional rodeo riders who regularly interact with large, dangerous animals."

Further research published in Science Advances revealed Neanderthal hands had a much more precise grip than modern humans initially thought. It was previously believed they used their hands and arms with brutal force and not such fine-tuned movements. Scientists analyzed marks left on the bones from muscle attachments, concluding Neanderthals' manual dexterity helped them use tools for hunting.

Neanderthals were also calculated in their hunting strategies. In 2011, research showed they were aware of reindeer migration patterns, timing their stays in certain hunting locations based on the movement of their prey.

More recent research, published in the scientific journal PLOS One in 2019, suggests another intriguing twist: Neanderthals might have also fished for food. A group of scientists studied dozens of well-preserved ear canals and discovered abnormal bony growths, often called "surfer's ear," suggesting that they might have frequently fished or hunted aquatic animals. They also may have gathered smooth clam shells from the seafloor, according to 2019 research from Villa, the University of Colorado, Boulder, researcher who uncovered their use of fire mentioned above. This suggests they may have been capable of diving because the shells, which they sharpened into tools, were not in the same shape as those that merely wash up on shore, as the BBC explains..

5. Neanderthals shared genetic traits with woolly mammoths.

Woolly mammoths were about the same size as modern African elephants, standing up to 11 feet tall. (Photo: Flying Puffin [CC SA 2.0} /Wikimedia Commons)

One of the large animals that Neanderthals hunted was the woolly mammoth, a now-extinct relative of modern elephants that was covered in fur and weighed up to 6 metric tons. Despite the obvious differences between these two mammals, a 2019 study published in Human Biology found Neanderthals and woolly mammoths shared some molecular signs of adaptation to cold environments. Both species evolved from African ancestors before adapting to cold climates of ice-age Eurasia, and both also became extinct around the same time. Their genetic parallels seem to be evidence of convergent evolution, the study's authors explain, as both Neanderthals and woolly mammoths faced similar conditions and underwent similar adaptations.

The researchers looked at three case studies of gene variants and alleles, all associated with cold-climate adaptation, found in both the Neanderthal and woolly mammoth genomes. These included genes involved with thermogenesis (production of body heat), keratin protein activity, and pigmentation of skin and hair.

"We believe these types of connections can be valuable for future evolutionary research," study co-author and Tel Aviv University researcher Meidad Kislev said in a university statement. "They're especially interesting when they involve other large-brained mammals, with long life spans, complex social behavior and their interactions in shared habitats with early humans."

"They say you are what you eat," adds co-author Ran Barkai, a professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University. "This was especially true of Neanderthals; they ate mammoths but were apparently also genetically similar to mammoths."

6. Humans didn't wait long to breed with Neanderthals.

While it's well-known that modern humans mated with Neanderthals, research shows the interbreeding happened far earlier and more often than we previously thought. As far back as 100,000 years ago, modern humans moving out of Africa encountered and mated with Neanderthals.

Science magazine reports:

After early modern humans emerged in Africa about 200,000 years ago, some eventually left the continent and mixed with Neandertals in the Middle East or the Arabian Peninsula, where fossils and stone tools of both groups date back to about 120,000 to 125,000 years. This group of modern humans went extinct, but their DNA persisted in the Neandertals that headed east to eventually settle in Siberia. Meanwhile, another group of modern humans left Africa much later and interbred 50,000 to 60,000 years ago with Neandertals that had headed south from Europe to the Middle East. In this later migration, Neandertals interbred with the ancestors of living Europeans and Asians, who then spread throughout Eurasia. Some of this group of modern humans also encountered Denisovans, picking up the DNA that persists today in Melanesians and some Asians.

What isn't yet known is how the encounters happened. Were they peaceful meetings, or were they raids in which one group stole the females of another group?

"Eventually, geneticists should be able to show if the transfer of DNA in either direction was mainly via males, females, or about equal in proportion, but it will need a lot more data before that becomes possible," Chris Stringer, a professor and research leader in human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, told BBC.

New data also shows that interbreeding of humans and Neanderthals was a primary reason why Neanderthals became "extinct." A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany analyzed the DNA of Neanderthals, early humans and modern humans and discovered that the Neanderthals' genes dissipated over time as interbreeding increased until they were wiped out.

"It means they were incorporated, which is why we see so many of their genes living on in modern Europeans," Svante Paabo, professor of evolutionary genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, told The Times. "If we look at a few thousand genomes we can pick out 15,000 Neanderthal genes — so at least half their genome is walking around in people today."

7. Mating with Neanderthals was bad for our health.

A modern human skull (left) compared with the skull of a Neanderthal. hairymuseummatt (original photo

While the genetic diversity that came from these encounters may have ensured that the humans who left Africa survived to modern times, it came at a price. Many modern day genetic illnesses likely came from the Neanderthal side of the family.

A study looking at pieces of the DNA in modern humans that trace back to Neanderthals shows this inheritance includes a higher risk of blood clots and strokes, depression, skin lesions, a propensity for nicotine addiction and even malnutrition due to imbalanced thiamine.

"Ultimately, the researchers found that Neanderthal genetic variants were significantly linked to increased risk of 12 traits, including heart attack and artery thickening," LiveScience reported in 2016.

These traits are related to adaptations that would have been beneficial in prehistoric times when our bodies were regulated by circadian rhythms, a very different diet and the need for boosted immune systems. But in today's modern world, the once beneficial traits are now problematic.

Science magazine notes, "But however beneficial in the Pleistocene and to people living in poor conditions today, even immune-boosting genes may have deleterious effects in the United States and Europe, where people face fewer parasites: [computational biologist Janet] Kelso found that the archaic receptor genes were strongly linked to allergies."

8. Neanderthals looked after sick and elderly family members.

It may be easy to assume that tough-living Neanderthals would have had a me-first mentality. But Neanderthals were loving family members, and they cared for the injured, sick and elderly.

A burial pit at La Chapelle-aux-Saints in France, first found in 1908, revealed the bones of an elderly man who had had debilitating arthritis and no teeth, showing that this family cared for him into his later years, perhaps even chewing his food for him. Evidence from bones in other sites repeat the story that fellow members of a group of Neanderthals must have cared for individuals who suffered debilitating injuries. In a study published in 2018 in World Archeology, researchers argue that Neanderthal health care was "a compassionate and knowledgeable response to injury and illness."

The authors cite the example of one Neanderthal male who had a degenerative disease of the spine and shoulders, a condition that would have sapped his strength over the final year of his life and severely limited his ability to contribute to the group. Yet evidence shows he remained part of the group, almost certainly due to community support. Once he died, his articulated remains were carefully buried.

"Our findings suggest Neanderthals didn't think in terms of whether others might repay their efforts; they just responded to their feelings about seeing their loved ones suffering," lead author and University of York researcher Penny Spikins said in a university release. "We argue that organized, knowledgeable and caring health care is not unique to our species but rather has a long evolutionary history."

9. Neanderthals had loud, high-pitched voices.

Nope, they didn't just grunt. While they might not have had particularly sophisticated vocabularies, Neanderthals were capable of complex speech thanks to the presence and position of the hyoid bone, a bone structure located in the neck that supports the root of the tongue. This is the very bone that allows modern humans to vocalize as we do.

A team of researchers modeled how the bone worked within the throat of Neanderthals. BBC reports:

Stephen Wroe, from the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia, said: "We would argue that this is a very significant step forward. It shows that the Kebara 2 hyoid doesn't just look like those of modern humans — it was used in a very similar way." He told BBC News that it not only changed our understanding of Neanderthals, but also of ourselves. "Many would argue that our capacity for speech and language is among the most fundamental of characteristics that make us human. If Neanderthals also had language then they were truly human, too."

While they could speak like us, they didn't necessarily sound like us. Their build likely gave them a higher-pitched and quite loud voice. In this video, voice experts explain how their large chests and posture likely made Neanderthals sound.

10. Neanderthals faded amid climate change and 'species drift.'

Despite their success, Neanderthals seem to have died out about 40,000 years ago. The mystery of their extinction has long fascinated our species, and scientists are still trying to figure out what happened. Of many theories floated over the years, two recent studies make interesting cases for possible factors in Neanderthals' demise.

In one study published in 2017 in Nature Communications, researchers suggest the extinction was a matter of population dynamics and timing. As the Washington Post explains, "It's a basic principle of ecology: Two species cannot occupy the same niche at the same time." Neanderthals shared space with Homo sapiens for a while, but over time, they couldn't endure the "slow trickle of human bands" flowing into their territories. As a result, the study's authors argue, humans slowly replaced them in a process known as "species drift."

"It's the simplest model that we can build without assuming any hard-to-prove claims, like selection or environmental change," co-author and Stanford University biologist Oren Kolodny told the Post. "What do I expect would have happened by default?"

Romania's Rodna Mountains were once home to Neanderthals, and stalagmites from caves in this region are helping scientists study the role of climate change in the species' extinction. Gavrila Stetco [CC SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons

In a study published in 2018 in PNAS, however, researchers report evidence that could link the fall of Neanderthals with climate change. The authors of this study examined stalagmites at two caves in Romania, using variations in the structures' growth to create the most detailed records yet of ancient climate change in continental Europe.

This revealed a series of prolonged, extremely cold and extremely dry conditions between 44,000 and 40,000 years ago, the researchers report. By comparing their new climate data with archaeological records of Neanderthal artifacts, they found a correlation between the cold periods and an absence of Neanderthal tools. This doesn't prove causation, they note, but it's a compelling clue.

"For many years we have wondered what could have caused their demise," says co-author Vasile Ersek, a lecturer in physical geography in Northumbria University, in a statement. "Were they pushed 'over the edge' by the arrival of modern humans, or were other factors involved? Our study suggests that climate change may have had an important role in the Neanderthal extinction."

So not only were Neanderthals crafty at making tools, quick to adapt to harsh conditions, and clever and strong hunters, they also may have been gravely affected by climate change. The more we study the evidence of Neanderthal life, the more we discover how alike we really are.