Home » Opinion » Book review
Science returns Neanderthals to rightful place in human lineage
Print Edition
JUST published last year, this is a highly informative summary of the state of current knowledge about the Neanderthals by two married scientists who, although soundly grounding their material in the most recent findings of archaeologists (and their allies in related fields), nonetheless do so in a manner very accessible to laypersons.
In doing so, they debunk a number of unfortunate stereotypes about the Neanderthals that have lingered for decades while also showing how much they were like us in their essential humanity.
Although modern humans are not descended directly from the Neanderthals — we did share a common ancestor some 600,000 years ago — the Neanderthals were human beings.
Like our modern human ancestors, they were capable of speech, were superb hunters, tamed fire, lived in familial groupings, and buried their dead.
Some scientists even believe that they have found evidence that some of them, at least, experimented with personal ornamentation and cave drawings, rudimentary forms of art that heretofore they were thought to have lacked.
While the earliest humans appeared in Africa, as did their hominid ancestors before them, the Neanderthals appear to have evolved from an early human ancestor that entered Europe several hundred thousand years ago.
As this was a period of considerable cold, the Neanderthals’ powerful, thick and squat bodies afforded them heat-retaining advantages over the more slender, taller form of humans living in Africa (that slimmer shape and less bulky form being more favorable to heat dissipation).
At this distant time, many species of large animals existed in Europe, including mammoth, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and bear.
It is clear from surviving evidence that the Neanderthals were aggressive and successful hunters.
Their hunting also suggests their ability to vocalize and strategize, as pursuing and cornering large prey took teamwork and a willingness to work for the clan even at great personal risk to individuals. Both were abilities also once thought unique to our species.
Although little is known about their social organization, it appears most likely that they moved about in smallish clan groups consisting of several family units. Again unlike the stereotypical image of an alpha male Neanderthal dominating a harem, given the evidence so far discovered it appears that many males, females, and children camped and traveled together.
Their survival depended upon cooperation, not independence.
While we now know that at least some of them buried their dead, it is uncertain how widespread this custom was among them. Such a practice certainly indicates affection, even reverence, for their deceased, but — without further evidence — we do not know whether or not this also indicates any sort of spiritual expectation.
We also now know that there was at least some mating between our modern human ancestors and the Neanderthals, as Western, non-African descended humans still possess between 2 and 4 percent of their DNA that is derived from the Neanderthals. As tantalizing as this is, once again evidence is yet too sparse to let us determine whether or not contact between modern humans and Neanderthals was frequent, occasional, or relatively rare.
The exact reason for their extinction some 40,000 years ago remains unknown. Even though periods of climate change may have been a factor, the Neanderthals had survived many such changes before (in fact, their known lifetime exceeds that of modern humans by a factor of 3 or 4).
It is possible that competition for resources with humans played a part for, as the larger, slower animals they preferred to hunt became less numerous in Europe, they were physically less able than the longer-legged, more slender modern humans to chase down the smaller sized, fleet-footed game that took their place, such as deer and gazelle.
All of this serves as an important corrective to the enduring popular imagery that pictures “Neanderthals” as ape-faced, unintelligent, stooped, shambling beasts.
These distortions originated from a misreading of one of the earliest skeletal remains of one of the first Neanderthals to be discovered (over 100 years ago).
Those who first attempted to skeletally reconstruct this individual missed the fact that he, although only in his early 30s, had severe osteoarthritis of the spine.
Modern scientific methods have shown convincingly that Neanderthals walked upright as we do and, in fact, had larger brains than do modern humans.
As one gazes at the faces of scientific reconstructions of the faces of both adult and child Neanderthals, it is very clear that these people were fellow human beings who experienced emotions such as wonder, fear, and hope. Perhaps our children will be privileged to learn more about these fascinating cousins of ours as further information comes to light in decades to come. (One of the downsides of being my age is that I will not be around long enough to witness these!)
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
