Social organization, group conflict and the demise of neanderthals

The article suggests that violent conflict, neglected by recent scholarship , was a key factor in bringing about the Neanderthals' demise in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Relying on the general archaeological evi dence regarding group sizes and drawing an analogy from historical hunter-g atherer societies, the author argues that Cro-Magnon man probably had large , 'tribal', groupings as opposed to the Neanderthal's small ones. Inter ali a this would have given Homo sapiens sapiens a decisive advantage in warfar e.