300k‑year expansion rewrites Neandertal origins

New preprints (David Reich et al.) propose that a major modern‑human range expansion around 300,000 years ago, combined with multiple deep admixture events, played a central role in the origin and genetic makeup of Neandertals and early modern humans. If correct, this reframes the simple Out‑of‑Africa replacement model into a complex, networked history of repeated contact and gene flow. — Shifting the dominant origin story from a one‑time migration to prolonged range dynamics and admixture alters public and scientific narratives about ancestry, identity, and how ancient DNA should be interpreted.