The Fall of Neandertals

The movie, Quest for Fire, was an interesting representation of Neanderthals and their lifestyle. The film started out with a band of Neanderthals living together in a cave type setting surrounding a bonfire. It quickly became clear that whoever possessed ‘fire’ were the elite, of the tribes. Quest for Fire was ultimately about just that: the Neanderthal’s quest for fire, but looking at the film closer, I was able to observe the portrayal of their lifestyle.

The first Neanderthal remains, discovered in Germany in 1856, were presented to the world of science at a meeting of the Lower Rhine Medical and Natural History Society held in Bonn in February 1857 and named a species, Homo neanderthalensis, by William King in 1864. Some Neanderthal fossils and other remains are in excellent condition, giving a good idea of Neanderthal culture. In 1887, two complete skeletons were found in a cave near Spy in Belgium, and more from sites in France in 1887, 1908 and 1911. These and other finds showed that the Neanderthals had populated Europe widely from about 130,000 to 28,000 years ago after which they became extinct. Most of these fossils were found in caves. Usually they are associated with cold

In a skeleton found in Asia, the discovery of a hyoid bone in the the throat raised the question of whether or not Neanderthals had language capabilities. There has been much debate over this and many different theories, but the most widely accepted is that they were capable of producing human speech sounds, but whether or not they used this speech to communicate in any kind of language is still largely up for debate. In height, Neanderthals were roughly about the same size as modern humans, but did not live as long as modern humans. A Neanderthal who lived into his or her 40's was considered to be long lived, which is comparatively short to our much longer lives of roughly double that. Genetically, Neaderthals and humans differ in their DNA structure both in the mitochondrial DNA and in the nuclear DNA. The significance of the DNA evidence is that it is crucial in determining whether remains that are found are truly Neanderthal or an older hominin relative.

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in the northwest region of America 400 years ago and where the temperature dropped to -40°C and in the summer the temperature only rises to 10°C (50°F). That is what the Nez-Perce Indians had to adapt to in the Blue Mountains,

Neanderthals were a species of archaic humans who migrated out of Africa and into Europe and Asia. However, around 40,000 years ago the large populations of Neanderthals died off and became extinct. The mysterious circumstances that surrounded their extinction drove various research teams to undertake the task of excavating numerous Neanderthal sites to collect fossilized bones, and artifacts in order to learn more about this group of ancestral humans. Over the past years, major technological advances have allowed researches to analyze the fossilized remains of the Neanderthals which led to major discoveries. For example, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found that the ear ossicles of Neanderthals and modern humans had similar functions but differed in terms of structure. In the study, the researchers used high-resolution computer tomography (CT) to scan numerous Neanderthal skulls from different sites in order to determine if there are ossicles present in the middle ear cavity (tympanic membrane). The scans revealed ossicles in fourteen different skulls which came as a surprise to the researchers since the bones of the ossicles are fragile and break down easily in the soil. The researchers then used microcomputed tomography scans and 3D geometric morphometrics in order to virtually reconstruct the bones of the ossicles which are composed of the malleus, incus and stapes. The 3D reconstructions of the ossicles allowed the scientists to

Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for well over 100,000 years.  Then suddenly Homo neandertalensis began to die out and surrender the earth to Homo sapiens.  Paleontologists and anthropologists have entertained several possibilities to the causes of this event: interbreeding among Neanderthals and humans, competition for natural resources, and Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest.”  What the real cause has been has plagued scientists for years. Now, due to an international research team from Germany, those possibilities have been even further deduced, making it easier to pinpoint the exact reason Homo neandertalensis became extinct.

The Paper Neanderthal Extinction by Competitive Exclusion begins with an introduction to the current theories of Neanderthal extinction. There are two widely accepted theories. One being that Neanderthals Were wiped out due to changes in their climate, thus reducing their niche and eventually causing them to go extinct. Or 2 Competition with anatomically modern humans was the driving force behind their extinction. The paper sets out to prove that it was Competition with Anatomically modern human that caused the Neanderthal extinction. It begins with Neanderthals being driven to southern Iberia. Environmental forces created a geographic barrier between them and AMH called the Ebro Frontier. conditions during Heinrich event 4(Large Icebergs traverse the Atlantic causing temperatures to drop drastically) delayed their colonization of southern Iberia, and that subsequent competition with AMH drove

Additional interesting facts about Neanderthals include: They had the same gene associated with language that modern humans have, but the anatomy of their vocal chords would not allow them to make certain sounds. They found a way to make adhesive through a complex thermal process, where they extracted pitch from stones. Amongst the artifacts found from the Neanderthal time period there are bones which appear to have been made into instruments. They were the first in history to have buried their dead. It appears they may have even marked their graves and perhaps had burial rituals. Finally, it has been discovered that at least some of the Neanderthals had pale skin and red hair. Qualities that may have helped them to absorb vitamin D which in

Hypothesis supporting climate change as a factor in Neanderthal extinction has taken on two forms - Neanderthals inability to adapt to harsh environments and prey extinction. Traditionally, Neanderthal extinction has been contributed to sudden climate change in which the species was unable to adapt (Houldcroft & Underdown 2015). Despite the fact that Neanderthal fossil exhibit ecomorphological characteristics that suggest they were adapted to colder ‘ice age’ environments; there is considerable evidence that supports the hypothesis that climatic changes are responsible for their sudden disappearance (Rae et al 2011; Stewart 2005). Neanderthal species were unlike any

The archaeological record is consistent with Neanderthals withdrawing southward into warmer refuges and dwindling in numbers, before more or less disappearing altogether. Fully modern humans furnished with modern human behavior moved those parts of Europe that had already been essentially evacuated by Neanderthals, with stratigraphic gaps, often of a few millennia or more, at sites where the conversion is well proved. Indeed, Neanderthals lasted in southern Iberia until around 30,000 BP, long after fully modern humans had moved into northern Spain by around 40,000 BP (Gilligan, 2007).

Throughout the documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” there was a push of research to push the human view of Neanderthals. Over the year’s research showed that we coexisted with Neanderthals and out beat their species. Many believed that Neanderthals where like the stereotypical unintelligent and wild caveman. With new technology, enhanced research, and the exposing documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” pushed the boundaries of these past ideologies. Through this we have learned how intelligent, symbolic, and closely related this species is to homo-sapiens species. This research proved that the Neanderthal may have not became extent due to in ability to create weapons but, due to inter breading with humans

at the dawn of time, before the vessel being's created the sentient life for the planets, the Tarukfama was cast back into its vessel and the Barivan took it to it's resting place. Earth, a far off planet from the others it was buried beneath it's soil to slumber for all eternity. This planet made the perfect incubator for the Tarukfama allowing it to you use its power, at the Earth's core to create humanity and thriving life. In the beginning, it's power was sorely diminished and it was only able to create lesser beings. However, over time it was able to store more power it continued to attempt to create more intelligent lifeforms resulting in Neanderthals. Eventually, it was able to create humans that grow ever more intelligent and expand

Several different hypotheses have been formulated to explain the extinction of Neanderthals, from climate changes to intoxication from cave-associated contaminants like smoke, from cannibalism to diseases (Herrera et al., 2009). It is only certain that Neanderthals disappeared from fossil record after the arrival of modern humans, around 40,000 years in Asia, and 10,000-15,000 years in Europe (Shreeve, 1995). Fossil evidence shows the presence of modern humans in Middle East from 130,000 to 75,000 years ago, in the same areas where Neanderthals retreated between 65,000 and 47,000 years ago (Mellars, 2004).

The exact causes of the Neanderthal extinction have been subjected to debate for many years, but recent evidence suggests that changing climatic conditions may have had a significant impact on their demise. Using herpetofaunal assemblages, researchers have found new climatic data for Gorham’s Cave during the late Pleistocene, specifically on temperature and precipitation levels. Situated on the southern tip of the Rock of Gibraltar, Gorham’s Cave is thought to be one of the last known Neanderthal settlements in Europe. Given that Neanderthals were closely attached to woodland habitats, the researchers propose that lessening rainfall may have led to a decline in forested areas, leaving late Neanderthal populations exposed to the elements, and thus more susceptible to extinction.

There is evidence to suggest that Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens had coexisted for approximately 35-40,000 years, (Fagan 2010) from around 60,000 years ago to 25,000 years ago when they finally went extinct (Gibbon 2001). Anthropologists are still uncertain what the cause of their extinction was. This paper will analyze three main theories of Neanderthal extinction. The first theory is the competition theory, which claims that the Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had to compete for resources, ultimately leading to their demise. The second theory I will discuss is the climate change theory, which claims that Homo sapiens lived while Neanderthals died because they were better adapted to the climate. The last theory I will discuss is