SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

Researchers from University College London's Institute of Archaeology say the excavation of a site near Pulborough is providing evidence of a thriving, developing population, rather than communities on the verge of extinction.

"The tools we've found at the site are technologically advanced and potentially older than tools in Britain belonging to our own species, Homo sapiens", said University College London senior research fellow Matthew Pope, who led the study. "It's exciting to think that there's a real possibility these were left by some of the last Neanderthal hunting groups to occupy northern Europe.

"The impression they give is of a population in complete command of both landscape and natural raw materials, with a flourishing technology -- not a people on the edge of extinction."

The excavation marks the first modern, scientific investigation of the site since its discovery in 1900.

A paper on the tools found at the site is reported in the journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.

 BREAKING STORIES

'Gay-friendly' school proposed for Chicago

Study: HIV began about 80-100 years ago

NASA studies 35-year-old Apollo equipment

Legumes: Good lasting nitrogen fertilizer

History of worldwide wildfires is studied

Crop development timetable is pushed back

Palin warns of 'second Holocaust'

Divers find 1784 British shipwreck

Remains of fourth century TB victim found

90-year-old ex-Nazi faces trial

Study: Miami Fort not a fort, but a dam

JFK study questions lone gunman theory

Viking graves date to 11th century

Historian: No 'post-racial' U.S.

NASA to hold Boston 'Future Forum'

Poland investigates Nazi insignia sales

Nuke reactor designated historic landmark

Nazi comment lands host in hot water

Foundation unveils record of languages

Swedish teachers lack Holocaust facts