Neanderthals, our shorter, stockier humanoid cousins, died out roughly 40,000 years ago. We know about them because lots of Neanderthal bones have been found in Europe. A chilly climate there helps preserve fossils. There’s also plenty of well-financed European institutions to study those bones. But as The World’s Patrick Winn reports, scientists are starting to realize that — when it comes to ancient species of humans — Southeast Asia might have a lot to teach us about who we came from as a species.
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