Manash (Subhaditya Edusoft): HUMAN EVOLUTION SERIES 6: Homo neanderthalensis

Reconstruction of NEANDERTHAL PAIR animation in 3D max

Group of Neanderthal People walking

Homo neanderthalensis:

Height: Males: average 5 ft 5 in (164 cm); Females: average 5 ft 1 in (155 cm)

Weight: Males: average 143 lbs (65 kg); Females: average 119 lbs (54 kg)

Overview:

Neanderthals (the ‘th’ pronounced as ‘t’) are our closest extinct human relative. Some defining features of their skulls include the large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, another adaptation to living in cold environments. But their brains were just as large as ours and often larger - proportional to their brawnier bodies.

Reconstructed Neanderthal Pair in 3D Max

Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior.

DNA has been recovered from more than a dozen Neanderthal fossils, all from Europe; the Neanderthal Genome Project is one of the exciting new areas of human origins research.

History of Discovery:

Neanderthal 1 was the first specimen to be recognized as an early human fossil. When it was discovered in 1856 in Germany, scientists had never seen a specimen like it: the oval shaped skull with a low, receding forehead and distinct browridges, the thick, strong bones. In 1864, it became the first fossil hominin species to be named. Geologist William King suggested the name Homo neanderthalensis (Johanson and Edgar, 2006), after these fossils found in the Feldhofer Cave of the Neander Valley in Germany (tal—a modern form of thal—means “valley” in German). Several years after Neanderthal 1 was discovered, scientists realized that prior fossil discoveries—in 1829 at Engis, Belgium, and in 1848 at Forbes Quarry, Gibraltar—were also Neanderthals. Even though they weren’t recognized at the time, these two earlier discoveries were actually the first early human fossils ever found.

neanderthal cave

How They Survived:

Compared to early humans living in tropical Africa, with more abundant edible plant foods available year-round, the number of plant foods Neanderthals could eat would have dropped significantly during the winter of colder climates, forcing Neanderthals to exploit other food options like meat more heavily. There is evidence that Neanderthals were specialized seasonal hunters, eating animals were available at the time (i.e. reindeer in the winter and red deer in the summer). Scientists have clear evidence of Neanderthal hunting from uncovering sharp wooden spears and large numbers of big game animal remains were hunted and butchered by Neanderthals. There is also evidence from Gibraltar that when they lived in coastal areas, they exploited marine resources such as mollusks, seals, dolphins and fish. Isotopic chemical analyses of Neanderthal bones also tell scientists the average Neanderthal’s diet consisted of a lot of meat. Scientists have also found plaque on the remains of molar teeth containing starch grains—concrete evidence that Neanderthals ate plants.

The Mousterian stone tool industry of Neanderthals is characterized by sophisticated flake tools that were detached from a prepared stone core. This innovative technique allowed flakes of predetermined shape to be removed and fashioned into tools from a single suitable stone. This technology differs from earlier ‘core tool’ traditions, such as the Acheulean tradition of Homo erectus. Acheulean tools worked from a suitable stone that was chipped down to tool form by the removal of flakes off the surface.

The original Neanderthal skeleton from the Neander Valley

Neanderthals used tools for activities like hunting and sewing. Left-right arm asymmetry indicates that they hunted with thrusting (rather than throwing) spears that allowed them to kill large animals from a safe distance. Neanderthal bones have a high frequency of fractures, which (along with their distribution) are similar to injuries among professional rodeo riders who regularly interact with large, dangerous animals. Scientists have also recovered scrapers and awls (larger stone or bone versions of the sewing needle that modern humans use today) associated with animal bones at Neanderthal sites. A Neanderthal would probably have used a scraper to first clean the animal hide, and then used an awl to poke holes in it, and finally use strips of animal tissue to lace together a loose-fitting garment. Neanderthals were the first early humans to wear clothing, but it is only with modern humans that scientists find evidence of the manufacture and use of bone sewing needles to sew together tighter fitting clothing.

Neanderthals also controlled fire, lived in shelters, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior. This may be one of the reasons that the Neanderthal fossil record is so rich compared to some earlier human species; being buried greatly increases the chance of becoming a fossil!

Evolutionary Tree Information:

Both fossil and genetic evidence indicate that Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from a common ancestor between 700,000 and 300,000 years ago. Neanderthals and modern humans belong to the same genus (Homo) and inhabited the same geographic areas in western Asia for 30,000–50,000 years; genetic evidence indicate while they interbred with non-African modern humans, they ultimately became distinct branches of the human family tree (separate species).

In fact, Neanderthals and modern humans may have had little direct interaction for tens of thousands of years until during one very cold period when modern humans spread into Europe. Their presence may have prevented Neanderthals from expanding back into areas they once favored and served as a catalyst for the Neanderthal’s impending extinction. Over just a few thousand years after modern humans moved into Europe, Neanderthal numbers dwindled to the point of extinction. All traces of Neanderthals disappeared by about 40,000 years ago. The most recently dated Neanderthal fossils come from small areas of western Europe and the Near east, which was likely where the last population of this early human species existed.

Hunting technology

Great strides have been made in understanding Neanderthal hunting technology. Neanderthals were consummate hunters of medium and large-sized mammals. There is evidence that they used stone-tipped spears to hunt. For instance, it has been observed that Levallois points often bear impact scars on their tips (Shea 1988). In addition, retouched Mousterian points from several sites in western Europe (La Cotte de St. Brelade, Bouheben, Oscurusciuto, and Abric del Pastor) have been identified as bearing impact scars too (Villa & Soriano 2010). These stone-tipped spears were probably used at close-range for thrusting, or thrown short distances as part of an ambush hunting strategy — neither the stone points nor the features of Neanderthal anatomy support the notion that Neanderthals used long-distance projectiles (Shea & Sisk 2010, Churchill & Schmitt 2002, Rhodes & Churchill 2008).

there is evidence that Neanderthals incorporated smaller animals and plant foods into their diets too. For instance, Neanderthals collected small game such as tortoises, shellfish, hares, rabbits, and birds in the Mediterranean region, and this trend increased dramatically just prior to or within the MP/UP transition (Stiner 2006). At the site of Vanguard Cave, Gibraltar, a small assemblage of mollusks was found, in addition to a few marine mammal bones (monk seal and dolphin) with cut-marks, indicating that Neanderthals exploited marine resources when they had the opportunity (Stringer et al. 2008).

Symbolism

One of the most pressing questions about Neanderthals is whether they had symbolic thought. Symbolic thought is widely agreed to be one of the hallmarks of modern (McBrearty & Brooks 2000) or complex (Langley et al. 2008) human behavior. It is also associated with the cognitive underpinnings of language (Chase 1991, Deacon 1997). Archaeologically, symbolism may be manifested as figurative art, ornamentation, use of pigments, and ritual burial (d'Errico et al. 2003, McBrearty & Brooks 2000, Mellars 2005, Langley et al. 2008). While there is no figurative art associated with Neanderthals, personal ornaments such as pierced or grooved animal teeth and ivory rings have been found at the Châtelperronian sites of Saint-Césaire and Arcy-sur-Cure, France (Lévêque et al. 1993, Hublin et al. 1996). However, as mentioned above, the question remains of whether Neanderthals were the makers of the Châtelperronian (Bar-Yosef & Bordes 2010). If they were not, then there is no other evidence indicating that they made ornaments. Mineral pigments are often used in symbolic contexts among humans today, but their chemical properties make them useful in activities such as hide tanning and for tool-hafting (Hovers et al. 2003). There is evidence that Neanderthals used mineral pigments such as red ochre (hematite) and manganese dioxide at several sites in Europe, including Pech de l'Azé I, France (d'Errico 2003), and Cueva de los Aviones and Cueva Antón, Spain (Zilhao et al. 2009). However, we do not know whether this pigment use was symbolic or not. Neanderthals most likely buried their dead, as evidenced from the presence of articulated Neanderthal skeletons found in dozens of sites (Langley et al. 2008, Riel-Salvatore & Clark 2001) (Figure 3). While some have argued that these skeletons were preserved by natural causes, such as cave roof collapses (Gargett 1989, 1999), rather than deliberately buried, there is general consensus that the completeness of the skeletons validates an interpretation of deliberate burial (Belfer-Cohen & Hovers 1992, d'Errico 2003). The lack of clear grave goods associated with these burials, however, lends doubt to the issue of whether these are symbolic burials, although they do indicate caring for the deceased beyond what is seen in non-human primates (Chase & Dibble 1987). The suggestion that Neanderthals at Shanidar Cave, Iraq, were buried with flowers has never been substantiated. While flower pollen was found in sediments near the burials, it could have been introduced by rodents such as the Persion Jird, which is known to gather flowers and bring them back to its burrow (Sommer 1999). In sum, there is evidence to suggest that Neanderthals had some level of symbolic thought. The use of mineral pigments, the presence of burials, and other indicators of behavioral complexity, such as composite technology, become more frequent after 60,000 ya (Langley et al. 2008), suggesting that behavioral complexity and symbolic thought may have emerged as a component of Neanderthal adaptations towards the end of their existence as a species.

The Fate of the Neanderthals

The transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic in Europe also marks the transition from a time of Neanderthal occupation to that of modern humans. It is widely accepted that modern humans first arrived in Europe from the southeast, bearing the Aurignacian culture, and replaced the Neanderthals. The latest MP assemblages have been documented in the Iberian peninsula at sites such as Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar at 28,000 ya (Finlayson 2006; but see Zilhao and Pettitt 2006 for a critique of these dates), and it has been suggested that the Neanderthals were "pushed" to this cul-de-sac by the invading modern humans, deteriorating climatic conditions, or both. Some have argued that the colder and highly variable climate of oxygen isotope stage 3 (57–24,000 ya; van Andel & Davies 2003, Finlayson & Carrion 2007) resulted in periods of climatic stress which may ultimately have been responsible for the demise of the Neanderthals (Stringer et al. 2003) through mechanisms such as the fragmentation of Neanderthal-favored habitats and their inability to adapt to new habitats (Finlayson 2004). Others have suggested that the Campanian Ignimbrite volcanic eruption at 40,000 ya initiated a volcanic winter that had a devastating effect on the ecology of eastern and southeastern Europe (Fedele et al. 2008), possibly wiping out populations of Neanderthals from Central Europe to the Caucasus (Golovanova et al. 2010). Demographic modeling (Sorenson 2010) and eco-cultural niche modeling (Banks et al. 2008) have both rejected climate as a driving factor for Neanderthal extinction, and suggested that other factors may have been involved, such as disease, violence, or competition with modern humans. Finally, some have suggested that Neanderthals did not go extinct, but were assimilated into populations of modern humans (Smith et al. 2005). Recent genetic studies have shown that modern European and Asian DNA contains 1–4% Neanderthal genes. This suggests that before Neanderthals became extinct, some, at least, interbred with modern humans (Green et al. 2010).

Neanderthals may have gone diving to find shells from the sea floor: Study:

Researchers have discovered for the first time that Neanderthals made tools from seashells, not just from those lying on the shore, but may have also gone diving to collect them from the seabed.

According to a study, published in the journal PLOS on Thursday, Neanderthals, often thought to be the inferior cousins to modern humans, may have retrieved seashells to make tools from waters as deep as 13 feet.

Researchers, including those from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the US, assessed more than 170 shell tools found in an Italian cave.

Based on patterned abrasions found on the surface of these shells, the scientists could distinguish between those which were picked up by the Neanderthals from the seashore, and those that were collected from under water.

Taking a closer look at the tools, they found that nearly three-quarters of the shells had opaque and slightly abraded exteriors, as if they had been sanded down over time, indicating that these had washed up on a sandy beach.

The rest of the shells, the study noted, had a shiny and smooth exterior.

According to the scientists the shiny shells, which were also a little bit bigger, may have been plucked directly from the seafloor as live animals.