Neanderthal-Sapiens Interaction: Shared Culture in the Levant and Hybrid Child Discovery

Genetic studies reveal interbreeding between *Homo sapiens* and Neanderthals, evidenced by Neanderthal genetic legacies in modern humans. The 'child of Lapedo', discovered in Portugal in 1998, provides skeletal evidence of this hybridization. A recent study dated the remains to approximately 28,000 years ago, millennia after Neanderthal extinction. The bones exhibit traits of both species. Excavations at Timshenet cave in the Levant show that around 100,000 years ago, *Homo sapiens*–like humans and Neanderthal-like hominids shared cultural practices, including burials with animal remains and red ochre. These groups used identical hunting strategies and tool-making methods, indicating a shared culture predating biological homogenization. The centripetal Levallois industry, a specific stone tool production technology, was uniformly used across sites, regardless of the makers' physical traits. Funerary practices, such as the flexed position of the deceased and placement of objects in graves, were also consistent, suggesting the emergence of complex social behaviors through inter-group interactions.