When modern humans arrived in Europe is debatable, but the earliest modern human bones—found in Bulgaria, Italy, and Britain—date to around 45,000 years ago.* Following that time, modern humans began pouring into Europe and reproducing at an ever-increasing rate. Neanderthals, who had successfully lived in Europe for over 300,000 years, went extinct 39,000 years ago—that is, around six thousand years later. The timing of our arrival and their extinction is just too close to be coincidence.
