We know that for thousands of years we lived side by side in Europe and Asia. And we know we had children together. So you're probably carrying around a bit of Neanderthal DNA.

Kind of cool to be part Neanderthal, don't you think? It's not as strange an idea as you might think.

Homo stupidus?

When the first Neanderthal skeleton was found in the Neandertal (Neander valley) in Germany in 1856, scientists imagined the person to have been a dull-witted cave dweller. The German zoologist Ernst Haeckel went so far as to give this first individual the name Homo stupidus.

Although the name didn't stick, the term Neanderthal has been used as a slur since, referring to someone who is primitive and cognitively backward.

The exhibition "Neanderthal," which opened on 11 May at the NTNU University Museum in Trondheim, gives us quite different picture of our close relative. The exhibition has previously been a hit with audiences in Aarhus and Copenhagen and received glowing reviews in Danish newspapers on its way to Trondheim.

"This is a fantastic exhibition experience for both children and adults," says Tove Eivindsen, head of communication at NTNU University Museum.