Six years of research concentrated in an exhibition revealing how climate change and the arrival of Homo sapiens marked Neanderthal decline

Ana B. Marín-Arroyo — Professor of Prehistory and exhibition curator. Photo: El Diario Montañés.

The Altamira Museum has welcomed the exhibition “Neanderthal Decline 45,000 Years Ago: Climate Crisis and the Arrival of Homo sapiens,” the result of six years of intensive research carried out by the SUBSILIENCE project, developed by the EvoAdapta group at the University of Cantabria. Funded with €2 million by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 programme, this ambitious study has analysed subsistence strategies and evaluated the resilience of the last Neanderthal groups in Europe in the face of pronounced climatic changes occurring between 57,000 and 27,000 years ago, during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3).

To date, various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the disappearance of the Neanderthals, with climate playing one of the most argued roles. SUBSILIENCE, after reconstructing climatic and environmental conditions at regional scales where Neanderthals lived, demonstrates that climate not only played a fundamental role in disrupting the availability of ecosystem resources for human diets, but that together with the arrival of our species these factors very significantly affected the progressive Neanderthal decline across the continent.

OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony brought together distinguished figures from the academic, cultural and political spheres. Among those attending were the Rector of the University of Cantabria, Conchi López; the Director of the Altamira Museum, Pilar Fatás; the Director General of Culture of the Government of Cantabria, Eva Guillermina Fernández; and the Mayor of Santillana del Mar, Sara Izquierdo. During the event, the significance of the SUBSILIENCE project for science communication and the preservation of prehistoric heritage was emphasised. Authorities highlighted how this exhibition reveals groundbreaking findings about Neanderthal decline while reaffirming the University of Cantabria’s commitment to research excellence and to attracting and training new researchers.

THE PROJECT

Traditionally, palaeoclimatic information about the past was obtained from global records—such as Greenland ice cores or pollen in marine cores—offering a limited view of regional environmental conditions in those parts of Europe where Neanderthals lived.

Professor Ana B. Marín-Arroyo, Principal Investigator of SUBSILIENCE, stated:
“Our study has revealed how the specific climatic and environmental conditions in the regions where Neanderthals lived have been crucial for interpreting their progressive spatial disappearance across the European continent. It was on the Iberian Peninsula that, from about 45,000 years ago, the last Neanderthal groups gradually shifted toward the Mediterranean zone following the herds that made up their diet until, around 35,000 years ago, they finally disappeared, leaving only Homo sapiens as the human species on the planet.”

Thanks to the application of advanced techniques—such as palaeoproteomics, stable isotope analysis, palaeoclimatic modelling—and traditional methods like archaeozoology and radiocarbon (Carbon-14) dating, new data have been obtained that shed light on ecosystem transformations and the types of diets adopted by both human species during the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition. This multidisciplinary approach and collaboration with leading international groups not only expand our scientific knowledge of European prehistory, but have also helped train a new generation of junior researchers, attracting talent and new funding to Cantabria through European grants such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie and national schemes like Juan de la Cierva, among others. In addition, SUBSILIENCE has produced more than 40 publications in prestigious international journals, including some within the Nature and Science families, providing the results in open access to the academic community and the public.

THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition invites visitors to explore the transition between the last Neanderthal groups and the encounter with the first Homo sapiens—a period of very rapid and abrupt climatic changes, in which interspecies competition transformed the landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula and the exploitation of food resources. Based on bioarchaeological findings from 21 sites in southern Europe, the exhibition links the past with the present, delving into human evolution and offering lessons for the future.

On display until 15 June 2025, the exhibition enriches Cantabria’s cultural offerings and invites reflection on our history as a species. Through the lens of Neanderthal decline, visitors are encouraged to question the role of environmental adaptation in our own survival and its implications in a world marked by climate change. What factor was key to persisting as the only living human species on the planet? The exhibition confronts us with the reality that, like the Neanderthals, our continued presence on Earth depends on our relationship with the environment and invites us to reflect on the importance of caring for our natural surroundings today to ensure a sustainable future.

Guided tours will be held on Tuesday 29 April, Tuesday 13 May and Sunday 25 May 2025, at 12:00 p.m., during which Marín-Arroyo will lead attendees through the past.

For more information, please consult the Altamira Museum website at www.museodealtamira.com or follow the group’s social media accounts @grupoevoadaptauc and @erc_subsilience.