page_title: Neanderthals in Southwest Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Neanderthals in Southwest Asia
caption_attribution_description: English: The approximate range of Neanderthals in the Levant (orange) and elsewhere (blue).
context_page_description: Southwest Asian Neanderthals are Neanderthals that lived in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, and Iran, the southernmost expanse of their known range. Although their arrival in Asia is not well-dated, early Neanderthals occupied the region apparently until about 100,000 years ago. At this time, Homo sapiens seems to have replaced them in one of the first anatomically modern expansions out of Africa. In their turn, starting around 80,000 years ago, Neanderthals seem to have replaced Homo sapiens in Southwest Asia. They inhabited the region until about 55,000 years ago.
  In Southwest Asia, Neanderthals left well-preserved skeletal remains in Israel, Syria, and Iraq. Remains in Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran are fragmentary. No Neanderthal skeletal remain has ever been found to the south of Jerusalem, and although there are Middle Palaeolithic Levallois points in Jordan and in the Arabian peninsula, it is unclear whether these were made by Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans.
  Neanderthals further to the east, such as those found in Uzbekistan and Asian Russia are known as Central and North Asian Neanderthals.
context_section_description: Southwest Asian Neanderthals are Neanderthals that lived in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, and Iran, the southernmost expanse of their known range. Although their arrival in Asia is not well-dated, early Neanderthals occupied the region apparently until about 100,000 years ago. At this time, Homo sapiens seems to have replaced them in one of the first anatomically modern expansions out of Africa. In their turn, starting around 80,000 years ago, Neanderthals seem to have replaced Homo sapiens in Southwest Asia. They inhabited the region until about 55,000 years ago.
  In Southwest Asia, Neanderthals left well-preserved skeletal remains in Israel, Syria, and Iraq. Remains in Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran are fragmentary. No Neanderthal skeletal remain has ever been found to the south of Jerusalem, and although there are Middle Palaeolithic Levallois points in Jordan and in the Arabian peninsula, it is unclear whether these were made by Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans.
  Neanderthals further to the east, such as those found in Uzbekistan and Asian Russia are known as Central and North Asian Neanderthals.
  As of 2013, although many more Neanderthal remains have been discovered in Southwest Asia than in North Asia, where genetic studies have succeeded,  no attempt at extracting DNA from Southwest Asian Neanderthals has ever been successful.
caption: The known range of Neanderthals in Southwest Asia (orange) and elsewhere. Sites that have yielded skeletal remains are tagged by country. Turkey (T1): Karain. Lebanon (L1-2): Ksâr 'Akil and El Masloukh. Israel (Is1-5): Kebara, Tabun, Ein Qashish, Shovakh, and Amud. West Bank (WB1): Shuqba. Syria (S1): Dederiyeh. Iraq (Iq1): Shanidar. Iran (In1): Bisitun. Iran (In1):Wezmeh.
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