Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus

The expansion of premodern humans into western and eastern Europe ∼40,000 years before the present led to the eventual replacement of the Neanderthals by modern humans ∼28,000 years ago1. Here we report the second mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of a Neanderthal, and the first such analysis on clearly dated Neanderthal remains. The specimen is from one of the eastern-most Neanderthal populations, recovered from Mezmaiskaya Cave in the...