For over a century, Neanderthals were treated like the punchline of human evolution: grunting, club-wielding cavemen who lost the race to us. But the real story? Way more interesting.

This fascinating video from TED-Ed takes a look into the biggest myths about Neanderthals, starting with their 1856 discovery in Germany’s Neander Valley and moving through decades of “Neander-slander.” Far from dim-witted brutes, they survived for over 350,000 years across Europe and Western Asia. They cared for injured community members, buried their dead, crafted sophisticated tools (including glue made from birch bark), possibly created art, and may have used medicinal plants.

And here’s what most people don’t know: they didn’t completely disappear. After the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced in 2010, scientists confirmed that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interbred. Today, most modern humans carry up to 4% Neanderthal DNA.

So what really happened to them? Climate change? Disease? Competition? Or were they gradually absorbed into larger Homo sapiens populations?

The more we learn, the clearer it becomes: human evolution isn’t a straight line, it’s a braided stream. And Neanderthals weren’t that different from us after all.

Watch the video and rethink everything you thought you knew about our ancient cousins.