The most widespread falsehoods about Neanderthals - Bruce Hardy episode artwork

EPISODE · May 16, 2026 · 8 MIN

The most widespread falsehoods about Neanderthals - Bruce Hardy

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the surprisingly complex lives of Neanderthals, and explore theories on what happened to our evolutionary cousins.--In 1856, quarriers working in Germany’s Neander Valley discovered several mysterious fossils. The remains changed hands until being identified as the skullcap and femur bones of something ancient and human, but not quite us. It soon became clear they belonged to an extinct human species— the first ever known to science: Neanderthals. Bruce Hardy explores what happened to our evolutionary cousins.Lesson by Bruce Hardy, directed by Daniel Harisberger, Team Tumult.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-biggest-myths-about-neanderthals-bruce-hardyDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-biggest-myths-about-neanderthals-bruce-hardy/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.teamtumult.ch----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, and Helen Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the surprisingly complex lives of Neanderthals, and explore theories on what happened to our evolutionary cousins.--In 1856, quarriers working in Germany’s Neander Valley discovered several mysterious fossils. The remains changed hands until being identified as the skullcap and femur bones of something ancient and human, but not quite us. It soon became clear they belonged to an extinct human species— the first ever known to science: Neanderthals. Bruce Hardy explores what happened to our evolutionary cousins.Lesson by Bruce Hardy, directed by Daniel Harisberger, Team Tumult.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-biggest-myths-about-neanderthals-bruce-hardyDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-biggest-myths-about-neanderthals-bruce-hardy/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.teamtumult.ch----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, and Helen Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The most widespread falsehoods about Neanderthals - Bruce Hardy

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This episode was published on May 16, 2026.

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Dig into the surprisingly complex lives of Neanderthals, and explore theories on what happened to our evolutionary cousins.--In 1856, quarriers working in Germany’s Neander Valley discovered several mysterious fossils. The remains changed hands...

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