\[ **BT: [[human evolution#classification of the hominin]] | [[Pleistocene]] | [[Palaeolithic]]** ] --- # *Homo neanderthalensis* (Neanderthals) Sometimes known as *Homo sapiens neanderthalensis*. Neanderthals inhabited Europe, as well as Western and Central Asia, during the [[Pleistocene#Middle Pleistocene|Middle Pleistocene]] to [[Pleistocene|Late Pleistocene]].[^1] Neanderthals went extinct approx. 50,000 years ago.[^2] [[Neanderthals made conscious use of medicinal plants and fungi—e.g. a dental abscess had been eating a type penicillin-producing mould.]][^3] [[Neanderthals made conscious use of medicinal plants and fungi—e.g. a dental abscess had been eating a type penicillin-producing mould.]][^4] [[Neanderthals, hunter-gatherers, and farming humans during the Stone Age are believed to breastfed on demand for several years.|Neanderthals are believed to have breastfed on demand for several years.]][^5] [[Neanderthal babies may have been at first exclusively breastfed; supplemented with other foods from about 7 months; and weaned around 1–2 years of age.]][^6] [^1]: ‘Neanderthal’, Wikipedia, 31 March 2026, 20:58 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal. [^2]: Merlin Sheldrake, [[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]] (Vintage, 2021), p. 9. [^3]: Merlin Sheldrake, *[[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]]* (Vintage, 2021), p. 9. [^4]: Merlin Sheldrake, *[[Sheldrake, Entangled Life, 2021|Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures]]* (Vintage, 2021), p. 9. [^5]: M. Papasavrou et al., ‘[[Papastavrou et al., ‘Breastfeeding in the Course of History’, 2015|Breastfeeding in the Course of History]], *Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care*, vol. 2, no. 6 (2015), p.1, https://doi.org/10.15406/jpnc.2015.02.00096. [^6]: M. Papasavrou et al., ‘[[Papastavrou et al., ‘Breastfeeding in the Course of History’, 2015|Breastfeeding in the Course of History]], *Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care*, vol. 2, no. 6 (2015), p.2, https://doi.org/10.15406/jpnc.2015.02.00096.