Neanderthals - humans, but aliens. Neanderthals were not our direct ancestors, nor did they interbreed with the Homo sapiens species. Evidence of this was provided by DNA studies. Italian scientists from the University of Florence came to this conclusion. They analyzed mitochondrial DNA extracted from the fossilized bones of a cromagnonian living 28,000 years ago. They repeated the analysis twice to be absolutely sure. The results of their research are published in the scientific journal PLoS One. The cromagnon race is named after the village of Cro-Magnon in the Dordogne department of France. In 1868, bones of Stone Age, Ice Age humans belonging to the Homo sapiens species were found there. They were of strong build, the average height of a man was 180 cm. They created famous cave paintings, carved figurines of women, the so-called Venus, in mammoth bone and clay, buried the dead, and were the first people to erect permanent homes. For several millennia they existed alongside Homo neanderthalensis, which became extinct about 25,000 years ago.