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They existed alongside Homo sapiens for thousands of years. Then, between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, they vanished, eventually leaving our ancestors as the only human species on Earth.

The question of how the Neanderthals lived, how they interacted with our predecessors, and how bright the dividing line between our two species really was is one of the great mysteries of anthropology and archeology.

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And it has implications for how we think about our place in the world today, says Janet Young, the curator of a new special exhibition simply titled “Neanderthal” at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

“I think what’s intriguing is the fact that they are one of those species that were very close to us in appearance, in the way that they functioned, and they died out. It’s the idea of: What caused that?” Young says.

“It’s more than just curiosity,” she says, adding that it’s important to know about the Neanderthals, to see “if there are parallels in our own world.”