Were Neanderthals our ancestors... or an evolutionary dead-end?

Were Neanderthals human, like us? Or were they subhuman brutes? Since the discovery of the first Neanderthal skeleton in 1856, scientists have battled over exactly how we’re related to these prehistoric cave-dwellers. Some are convinced that they were human ancestors. Others are just as sure that they were a side-branch of the family tree that hit a dead-end.

There’s plenty of new evidence, but nothing seems to settle the case. Not the mysterious 25,000 year old skeleton from Portugal. Not even DNA from the original Neanderthal bones. In the courtroom of scientific opinion, experts look at the same evidence and arrive at very different conclusions. Why is the jury still out after all these years?

Exploring one of the most contentious debates in human origins, Neanderthals on Trial offers a surprising look at how the science works, and how investigators sometimes fool themselves into seeing what they want to see.