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In 1856, three years before Darwin published "The Origin of Species," workers cleaning a quarry in the Neander Valley, about 10 kilometers east of Dusseldorf, Germany, discovered a skull and some bones. A few years later, the remains were identified as belonging to an extinct ancient human species called Neanderthals. Who are they? Did they, who disappeared about 30,000 years ago, mix with modern humans? Do we still have ancient Neanderthal genes in our bodies? The author of this book, Svante Paabo, boldly and rigorously explores the above issues through ancient DNA technology. "Neanderthal" is not only his first-hand industry record of the field of ancient DNA from its rise to its increasing maturity, but it is also intertwined with a scientific researcher's sincere experience of confusion, failure, doubt, success and more unknowns. From ancient Egyptian mummies to obtaining the first Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA sequence, to publishing the first Neanderthal genome draft; from conducting experiments without telling the mentor, to traveling to the Democratic Republic of Germany to obtain samples during the Cold War, to anecdotes of exchanges in the context of global scientific research collaboration - Paabo More than 30 years of exploration in the field of ancient DNA, between the debates between the "Out of Africa" and "Multiple Origins" theories, kicked off the study of how ancient genetic variation affects the physiology of modern humans. It also witnessed the growth of a medical student curious about ancient Egyptology to the organizer of a scientific research project on human evolution. Please follow this book to trace our origins and discover how we became human beings and what makes us human.