mnli premise: As evidenced by bones, weapons, and pottery most recently uncovered by archeologists, the Asian equivalent of Neanderthal Man crossed a now-submerged land bridge from eastern Siberia to what is now Sakhalin Island and northern Japan some 100,000 years ago. hypothesis: Sakhalin Island was reached by the Asian equivalent of Neanderthal Man approximately 100,000 years ago according to archeologists.