Neandertal Place in Human Origins

It seems to me that the actual discussion is mainly about the multi-regional versus the out-of-Africa models rather than about the Neandertals. Either model is compatible with the Neandertals as a subspecies of Homo Sapiens or as a closely related species.To the best of my knowledge out-of-Africa is by far the dominant model.While I don't have time to track it down, IIRC there are a few remains that have been identified - perhaps incorrectly - as hybrids between Neandertals and fully modern humans. I would suggest that they would be more important to the question of the position of Neandetals than the multiregional vs out-of-Africa question.

I think most of what you say is pretty much correct.One little point to remember is the "Cro Magnons" are fully modern humans. In that sense they are "us".Now if there was interbreeding between fully modern humans and Neandertals then that would tend to support the view that Neandertals should be classified as a subspecies (interfertility is an important consideration in such comparisons even if it is not the only consideration). That does not invalidate the DNA analysis, it is just another factor to consider when making a decision on the taxonomic classification.I seem to remember some criticisms of the methodology of the mitochondrial DNA studies on this forum. Does anyone else remember any more details ?