Neanderthals hunting bison, illustration. Group of Neanderthal hunters hunting bison. They are communicating by signs so as not to startle their prey. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), now extinct, inhabited Europe and western Asia between 230,000 and 29,000 years ago. It is thought that they had language, lived in small family groups and hunted for food. One theory is that they were outcompeted by modern humans (Homo sapiens). Several species of bison ranged across Europe and North America in prehistoric times. In the background is a mesa rock formation, a tableland formed by erosion.