The Neanderthals - In Our Time BBC Program

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Neanderthals:

In 1856, quarry workers in Germany found bones in a cave which seemed to belong to a bear or other large mammal. They were later identified as being from a previously unknown species of hominid similar to a human. The specimen was named Homo neanderthalis after the valley in which the bones were found.

The Neanderthals had fair skin and red hair which helped in a cold climate because fair skin can metabolise vitamin D.

Often depicted as little more advanced than apes, Neanderthals were in fact sophisticated, highly-evolved hunters capable of making tools and even jewellery.

References:
The Neanderthals - In Our Time BBC Program