The Neanderthals, even more richly known from the fossil and archaeological record, were remarkable beings.

They cared for their elderly and injured — multiple Neanderthal specimens show healed injuries that would have required the sustained care of other group members to survive.

They controlled fire, made complex tools from multiple raw materials, used ochre for pigmentation of their bodies or tools, and possibly made music or other symbolic expressions.

Their brains were as large as or larger than those of modern humans.

Both groups coexisted with modern humans for some period after modern humans expanded out of Africa.