The archaic form of humans known as Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neandertalensis) was replaced by our own species (Homo sapiens sapiens) in Europe in the period between 45,000 and 30,000 years ago. However, in any given region, anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) and Neanderthals lived on the same landscape for as long as a few thousand years before the Neanderthals ceased to exist. Whether one form evolved into the other, or whether there was an in-migration of modern humans that resulted in the physical replacement of archaic by modern humans is still much debated among scholars (Mellars and Stringer 1989; Trinkaus 1989).
During the time that the two physical types co-existed, each seems to have maintained its own ways of making tools and adapting to its environment. By about 40-35,000 years ago, there is evidence that the culture of Homo sapiens sapiens in Europe (known as the Aurignacian culture) included such features as body ornaments and graphic representation. Near the end of this period of co-existence, the culture of the Neanderthals (known as the Mousterian culture) began to change, taking on some of the features (e.g., body ornaments, bone tools) previously restricted to Homo sapiens sapiens. Many archaeologists are beginning to view this change as the result of acculturation of local archaic populations in the face of the newcomers.