39000 years ago the supervolcano in Italy near Naples terminated life in West Europe. Meanwhile, advancing population of modern humans from Africa pushed Neanderthals in the quite definite direction. Namely – to the East. From East Europe they came to South Siberia and finally could reach the Pacific coast. We get confirmation for this immediately. The Ainu people of Pacific islands and the continental Far East were strikingly different from their Mongoloid neighbours, but look very like North Europeans.
Ainu man, circa 1880.
They stored their own legendary history and insisted that they live in these places tens of thousands of years. Also their lifestyle was recorded in the early Japanese chronicles. This description perfectly fits what should be expected from Neanderthals. They were physically stronger, had violent behavior and quite specific image of life. It was clearly advanced, but not a civilization in common meaning. They did not practice production in our sense. Instead, they tried to use natural resources rationally and regulate own consumption and population.
This migration could also reach America. Archeology of Native Americans show wonderful things. There existed a widespread cultures which created large earth structures.
1840s map of Mound City. Hopewell culture.
Similar structures were found in Britain, South Ural and they may be predecessors of Scythian curgans and early Egyptian pyramids built from earth and mud bricks. Also America knows numerous reports of giant human skeletons circa 2.5 m tall.
Gigantism is a well known feature of animals living in cold climate. A large body has a less ratio of the surface to the volume which helps to economize heat production. Indian legends tell that these people were brutal and had conflicts with humans. Possibly, tried to subdue them. Burials show that they may be chiefs upon humans.
Scheme of Indo-European migrations from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the Kurgan hypothesis. The assumed Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture) and the subsequent Yamnaya culture. The central purple area is supposed to show early Yamna culture (4000–3500 BC); the dark red area could show expansion to about 2500 BC, and the lighter red area expansion to about 1000 BC.
Marija Gimbutas placed the origin of Indoeuropeans somewhere between Upper Don and Volga 5000 years BCE. This approximately corresponds to the date of World Creation in Slavic calendar – approximately 5500 BCE. In this chronology, the event is not mystical at all. Just concluding a peace treaty in a great war. In this language, the word for peace and world is the same. Slavo-Aryans defeated Ahriman. In Shahnameh this may correspond to the end of Irano-Turanian war.
Meanwhile this time scale keeps yet another 2 dates. Both are linked to climate change. 110000 BCE Slavs moved from the North because of the Great Flood. 11000 BCE they recorded the great cold. Indeed, 110000 BP began the last glacial period in East Europe. According to data about the level of the Caspian Sea, 10000 BCE ended the last glaciation. This points at yet another factor which pushed Neandertahls from their homeland Europe. During interglacial periods large areas of the continent became flooded. Accordingly, the population moved towards its mountainous marginal regions. As a result, the distribution strikingly similar to the present was created. In the near past, centres of large empires were located not in the centres of some regions, but at their borders (Britain, Japan, even in Russia Peter I moved the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg).
It is necessary to take into account that geography of Siberia was different millennia ago. During the last glacial period, Ob and Yenisei rivers which flow at the West and East sides of West Siberia were dammed at the mouth by the glacier. As a result the huge inner sea larger than Caspian Sea existed.
Ice Age lakes of Siberia and Central Asia.
This water reservoir should change local climate and make it more soft and favorite for animals and humans. Large human population could thrive at the south shores of this sea. When the glacier melted, the sea disappeared and turned into bogs, humans could migrate westwards to the region of Baltic Sea with similar conditions.
Mountain Shoria is a nearby region full of mystery. There are talks about Yeti the snow man. There are many caves.
Megaliths of Mountain Shoria.
Also this region is often cited as a megalithic site. Neanderthals often lived in caves. Growing population required more room. There are 2 possible solutions. The first – build artificial dwellings. This lineage resulted in modern stone houses and finally in building cities. A medieval castle is nothing else than an artificial rock with many caves inside. As a confirmation, they were often built on top natural rocks end were their extensions.
Another solution – dig more rooms near the existing. The whole cave cities are well known in Cappadocia and other places.
Kaymakli caves.
Also monks later made their monasteries this way in the soft stones. One such underground city existed under Tutal rocks at the bank of the Tom river in West Siberia. Rumors tell about kilometres of underground tunnels. Many children were lost in these caves so they were blown up in 1964.
When archeology discusses Neanderthals and modern humans, they are considered separately. For example, in the Near East, some sites were occupied by both species sequentially. It is supposed by default that one of them abandoned this place, then the other came to it without contact. Meanwhile, besides genetics, such contacts were directly recorded elsewhere. Chatelperronian culture is transitional from Neanderthal to Cromagnon. This may indicate that they lived together. Also, modern humans from Kostenki, Russia lived in typical Neanderthal dwellings. They were made of large bones covered with skins.
Prehistoric Siberia was intensively studied by academician Okladnikov. There is a chain of large cities along 56 parallel. This is the latitude of Moscow and is considered optimal for dwelling. Not too hot and not too cold. Linguistics points at 2 outstanding ethnic groups.
South Ural and adjacent lands were a traditional Tatar area. Science tells that they are a Turkic people, belonging to the language family which emerged at the beginning of Common Era. Meanwhile Greek mythology knows them much longer.
The other group is represented by the Yenisseian language family which dwelled at the eastern shores of the West Siberian sea. This family is much more ancient and retained well known names such as Arins and Kets.
Ket people.
Hittites (Khets) created a famous empire on the territory of Asia Minor. Where did they come from? This event is encircled in mystery. The conquerors retained old names of the previous Hatti and even seemingly adopted their culture. How to explain such respect? Pronunciation of Hittites is similar to Kitai, the Russian name for China. Hatti is similar to Yeti. Were Yenissean Kets a very remote spawn of Hittite Empire or maybe both Hatti and Hittites came to Anatolia from South Siberia? The most probable variant is multiple shuttle migrations between these sites.
All these facts make it possible to formulate a hypothesis that what is known as Indoeuropeans was a group of modern humans led by remains of the previous hominids. They had 150 millennia longer human experience, were specifically adapted to northern climate and high mountains so were well suited to form a ruling class over the next generations.
Now let's look how this subgroup evolved further already as a part of Homo Sapiens. The first civilized communities separated into pastoralists and peasants which correspond to hunters and gatherers of Stone Age. Neanderthals were predominantly hunters so they should be linked to the later nomadic herders.