Ancient relative’s northeastern heartland destroyed (11)

I believe the answer is:

neanderthal

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'ancient relative's northeastern heartland destroyed' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'northeastern heartland destroyed' is the wordplay.
'northeastern' becomes 'ne' (abbreviation for northeastern).
'destroyed' indicates an anagram.
'heartland' is an anagram of 'anderthal'.
'ne'+'anderthal'='NEANDERTHAL'

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(Other definitions for neanderthal that I've seen before include "Hominid discovered in Europe" , "Extinct type of human" , "Uncivilised man" , "Type of primitive man" , "Sort of very old man" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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