The NEANDERTHALS (B.C.E.150¸000 To 30¸000 years ago
About 230¸000 years ago a distinctive type of people who bear the name Neanderthal developed. The Neanderthals flourished in Europe¸ Eurasia¸ and part of southwestern Asia from about 150¸000 years ago until around 30¸000 ago. They received their name in 1856 when the first fossil appeared in the Neander Valley of what is now modern Germany. Their remains are now identified throughout Africa¸ Asia¸ and Europe. Most anthropologists believe that they were a type of archaic Home sapiens but were a bit shorter–men were about 5.5 feet tall and women were about 6 inches shorter than the men. The size of their brains were the same as modern people¸ sometimes even larger¸ but they were stouter and had a heavier bone structure. The major difference was in their faces¸ which retained the sloping forehead and heavy eye ridges of Homo erectus.
Much of what we know about archaic Homo sapiens¸ the descendant of Homo erectus¸ comes from the Neanderthals. These long term inhabitants of Europe and Eurasia¸ whose anatomical features appear in archaic European populations such as those from Atapuerca¸ Spain¸ at least 300¸000 years ago.
The Neanderthals are still the subject of great controversy among physical anthropologists. Some people use the word Neantherthal to describe dim–witted¸ugly people who are like apes¸ and insult aimed at those they consider dumb. This stereotype and that of the shambling cave people so beloved by cartoonists come from mistaken studies of Neanderthal skeletons in the early years of this century. In fact¸ the Neanderthals were strong¸ robustly built humans with some archaic features. Their skulls display retreating foreheads¸ projecting faces¸ and sometimes eyebrow ridges¸ when compared with modern people. There is every reason to believe they were expert hunters and beings capable of considerable intellectual reasoning.
There are¸ of course striking anatomical differences between Neanderthals and modern humans¸ both in robust post cranial skeleton of the Neanderthal and its more bun–shaped skull¸ sometimes with heavy brow ridges and a forward projecting face. These features are the reason the extinct hominid from is classified as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis¸ a subspecies of Homo sapiens¸ and not as Homo sapiens sapiens¸ a fully modern human.
Neanderthals had to learn how to live in many different types of climate. When they first appeared¸ the earth was very warm. Then it turned colder and the kind of animals that they hunted changed from small game to large animals. During severe cold spells they made their home in caves.
Researchers compared the Neanderthal DNA sequence to sequences in the same region of DNA for 994 modern human lineages¸ which included Africans¸ Asians¸ Australians¸ Europeans¸ Native Americans¸ and Pacific Islanders. The Neanderthal DNA sequence differed from all the modern human DNA by either 27 or 28 base pairs. In contrast¸ modern human sequences in this region of DNA differ from each other on average by 8 pairs. The difference between modern human DNA and chimpanzee DNA in this region is much greater¸ at about 55 pairs.As a result¸ the geneticists concluded that Neanderthals and modern humans are distant relations and did not interbreed or evolve from one another. If chimpanzees and humans diverged about 4 million to 5 million years ago¸ then we can estimate Neanderthals may split from early modern humans between 550¸000 and 690¸000 years ago.
Neanderthal culture and technology was far more complex and sophisticated than that of their Acheulian predecessors. Many of their artifacts were not multipurpose tools but were made for specific purposes¸ such as stone spear points mounted on wooden spears or curved scrapers for treating pegged–out hides. Like their predecessors¸ they occupied large territories¸ which they probably exploited on a seasonal round¸ returning to the same locations year after year when game migrated or plant food came into season.
Tool making was a major concern of the Neanderthals. they developed a wide variety of stone objects including hammers¸ awls¸and knifes. Hand axes similar to those of Homo erectus were also very common. Their most creative technique is called Levallois flaking. Finding the right kind of rock that easily chipped¸ the tool maker¸ or knapper¸ shaped the Levallois flake with a stone hammer. The sharp edge produced a tool that could be used as a spear head¸ s knife¸ or a scraper. Wherever Levallios flake are found¸ it gives evidence of a Neanderthal campsite.
The Neanderthals were skilled hunters¸ especially when one realized that they had to attack game at close quarters with spears and club rather with the bow and arrow. They were not afraid to tackle such formidable animals as mammoth¸bison¸ or wild horses. Many western European bands lived in caves and rock shelters during much of the year as a protection against arctic cold. During the brief summer months they may have fanned out over the plains¸ living in temporary tented encampments¸ also exploiting plant foods. There can be little doubt the Neanderthals knew their local environments intimately and that they planned their lives around migration seasons and such factors as herd size and the predictability of animal movements. By this time¸ too¸ humans had learned how to store food for the lean months maximizing the meat taken from seasonally migrating herds of reindeer and other animals.
The religious life of Neanderthals probably paralleled that of modern hunting societies. If that surmise is correct¸ then believed that the world was full of both good and evil spirits that they could not see but that actively played a role in their lives. They wanted to keep the good spirits in their side as well as to keep the bad ones at bay. Therefore¸ they developed rituals to manipulate this unseen world.
In Europe the cave bear¸ now extinct but much larger than the grizzly was one of the Neandertal's prey. At several sites anthropologists discovered places where the skulls of the cave bears were neatly arranged in stone pits. This ritual was probably through to appease the bears' spritis so that hunting these animals in the future would remain successful.
Burial practices also testify to a belief in life after death. Corpses were buried in graves¸ sometimes in a horizontal position¸ sometimes in a fetal one¸ with grave gifts such as weapons and broken animal bones. One such burial site 100¸000 years ago in Shanidar¸ Iraq¸ had a body buried after it had been sprinkled with flowers. Death came early for many members of Neanderthals bands¸ for the men hunted with spears requiring them to jab and thrust them into prey. They never hit upon the idea of throwing the spear. Most male corpses found in Neanderthal graves show numerous wounds and injuries.
We find in the Neanderthals¸ and their increasingly sophisticated culture the first roots of our own complicated beliefs¸ societies¸ and religious sense. However the Neanderthals¸ like other archaic Homo sapiens forms¸ gave way to fully modern humans¸ however¸ about 30¸000 years ago the Neanderthals disappeared. Their last stand appears in caves located on Gibraltar. No one knows for sure what happened to them. Perhaps they were assimilated into Homo sapiens sapiens¸ all the people who now live on earth. According to some anthropologists¸ recent studies of DNA in fossils of Neanderthals closely match those in modern European populations.
About 30¸000 years ago the Neanderthals disseared. Their last stand appears in caves located on Gibraltar. No one konws for sure what happened to them. Perhaps they were assililated into Homo sapiens sapiens¸ all the people who now live on Earth. According to some anthropologists recent studies of DNA in fossils of Neandertals closely match those on modern European populations.
