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talkpoliticsWhat if Neanderthals and Denisovans survived and managed to mostly repel Homo Sapiens advance out of Africa, leading to a world with multiple competing human species?
I’ve been thinking lately about how different history might have looked if Neanderthals and Denisovans had survived alongside us instead of disappearing. Not as cavemen hiding in forests, but as actual competing civilisations with their own kingdoms, religions, armies, and identities. Europe could have been dominated by Neanderthals, Asia by Denisovans, while Homo sapiens would have expanded out of Africa much later through maritime trade and naval power.
What fascinates me most is that politics, religion, and even the meaning of “human” would probably look completely different. Ancient empires might justify rule based on species instead of ethnicity, while universalist religions would emerge trying to unite multiple intelligent human species under one moral system. Ironically, despite endless conflict, the long-term outcome would probably still be mixing and gradual unification into one blended humanity. The more I read about recent discoveries around Neanderthals and Denisovans, the less realistic this scenario actually feels.
Some interesting reading too:
Smithsonian Magazine article on Denisovans and other ancient humans
I’ve been thinking lately about how different history might have looked if Neanderthals and Denisovans had survived alongside us instead of disappearing. Not as cavemen hiding in forests, but as actual competing civilisations with their own kingdoms, religions, armies, and identities. Europe could have been dominated by Neanderthals, Asia by Denisovans, while Homo sapiens would have expanded out of Africa much later through maritime trade and naval power.
What fascinates me most is that politics, religion, and even the meaning of “human” would probably look completely different. Ancient empires might justify rule based on species instead of ethnicity, while universalist religions would emerge trying to unite multiple intelligent human species under one moral system. Ironically, despite endless conflict, the long-term outcome would probably still be mixing and gradual unification into one blended humanity. The more I read about recent discoveries around Neanderthals and Denisovans, the less realistic this scenario actually feels.
Some interesting reading too:
Smithsonian Magazine article on Denisovans and other ancient humans
