neanderthal, a species of the Homo genus, disappeared from Earth about 35,000 years ago. Homo sapiens who had the same ancestors as them, continued to live on. The reason behind their sudden disappearance has intrigued scientists for a long time. Anthropologists have propounded three theories explaining their disappearance. One group says tha Homo sapiens, who were technologically more advanced in warfare, wiped them out. The second group says they died of disease. The third says that it was a combination of these two factors.

Scientists have now found a new explanation in the differences in the role women played in the society of Neanderthals and that of Homo sapiens. A research paper says Homo sapiens had an evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals.While female Neanderthals helped their men hunt, female Homo sapiens developed skills like preparing stones to grind nuts and seeds, sewing for making clothes and shelters. This gave them access to more diverse sources of food and protection from adverse weather conditions, says the paper published in the journal Current Anthropology (Vol 47, No 6).

"The competitive advantage enjoyed by modern human beings has come not just from new weapons and devices but from the ways in which their lives were organised and tasks distributed between men, women, and children,' say Steven L Kuhn and Mary C Stiner of the University of Arizona, the authors.
Efficient Homo sapiens The middle palaeolithic Neanderthal records show that Neanderthals lacked the artefacts to make weather-resistant clothing and artificial shelters, such as bone needles, which was not the case with Homo sapiens. The emergence of female roles