The Paleolithic Er The Extinction Of The Neanderthals

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

The Paleolithic Period is the earliest time period man has been alive, and the longest of the Stone Age's. It dates from 2,000,000 B.C to 10,000 BC The people of the Paleolithic Period lived simple lives, which consisted primarily of survival. Man's life was simply to hunt, eat, and survive, while the woman's job was to gather and watch over the children.

     The Paleolithic Period is the earliest time period man has been alive, and the longest of the Stone Age's. It dates from 2,000,000 B.C to 10,000 BC The people of the Paleolithic Period lived simple lives, which consisted primarily of survival. Man's life was simply to hunt, eat, and survive, while the woman’s job was to gather and watch over the children.

The Paleolithic and Neolithic periods displayed major cultural differences in religion, lifestyles, government, and technology. “Culture is the way of life of a group of people. Culture includes common practices of a society, its shared understandings, and its social organizations are always changing” (McDougal, World History: Patterns of Interaction, 2004) The Paleolithic time period was full of inventions and was a time where new technology and lifestyles were blossoming through all cultures. Tools made out of pressure flaked stone and rock were created during this period to help with everyday tasks. The Paleolithic period was also the period where the creations of fires were discovered along with religion and languages. The Neolithic age, however, was more technologically improved, than the Paleolithic age. This was the start of the agricultural revolution and the start of civilizations and societies. These two periods were ever changing.

The Paleolithic Age was responsible for the introductions of many vital aspects of our world today such as, technology, agriculture, and gender roles. The Paleolithic culture was based on a hunter and gatherer society, which had a great influence

The paleolithic civilizations the early period of human history from 2,500,00 through 10,000 B.C. Neolithic civilizations begun to

The Paleolithic Era (or Old Stone Age) is a period of prehistory from about 2.6 million years ago to around 10000 years ago . There are very few subjects that are more controversial than the origins of the human species. During the Ice Age, a race of people known as the Neanderthals inhabited the fringes of the European ice pack . Because their remains were discovered in Neanderthal in Germany, these people were known as Neanderthals. Neanderthals were slightly different then Homo sapiens. They were heavier, stronger, and hairier then the Homo sapiens .The Neanderthals lived a very simple life. They were hunter/gathers, and

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.

While it is important to understand the significance of each hypothesis, the questions surrounding the Neanderthal extinction takes on assorted factors that are not mutually exclusive. Numerous studies have been conducted focusing exclusively on climate, competition or disease as a function of Neanderthal extinction. However, conflicting conclusion suggest that there are several factors involved that overlap and/ or arising from one another. This paper will attempt to better understand how climate, competition, and disease might operate together to account for Neanderthal extinction. First by summarizing each argument of the three arguments and identifying the potential implications for father research. Secondly, aim to develop a framework that will include the most relevant hypothesis.

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

There are many questions regarding what happened to the Neandertals. Many believe that the Neandertals eventually evolved to become modern people. Theorists believe that these “modern people” developed the Aurignacian culture and lifestyle. These Neandertals turned modern people are said to have, 30,000 years ago, resign in Europe and slowly decrease in number until they would become extinct. However, there is one major flaw with this theory. That is because Neandertals and modern people did not come from the same continent and lived separately in Southeast Asia for nearly 45,000 years (cite). Another hypothesis is that Neandertals may have become extinct after migrating with modern people. If this theory is true, populations in Europe should

Characteristics of the Paleolithic Age – Some characteristics of the Paleolithic Age include hunting and gathering methods and living in small groups. Also using stone tools and living a nomadic lifestyle. There were four different type of stone tools used including pebbles, hand axes, flakes and pebbles. They would not plant any vegetables or grains but hunted for berries and roots in the wild. They would also fish in streams like we still do today.

The public common conception of Neanderthals is that they were the less intelligent, lumbering cousins of old modern man who died off because they just were not enough equipped or intelligent as their cousins. Some people think that for decades after the first discovery of their bone, homo neanderthalensis was observed as a hairy wanton who tumbled around Ice Age Eurasia on bent knees, finally to be exchanged by elegant, straight Cro Magnon, the true progenitor of modernistic Europeans. Wholeheartedly, I disagree with this view. I think archaeological and research evidence has shown that the Neanderthals lived in a hard, changing environment, and survived then reproduced for over 250 thousand years despite the hardships they likely faced. Also,

Overkill Hypothesis In the past the world was different, it had different biology. The Pleistocene geologic era, lasting from around 1.6 million to 11,000 years back, was extremely different compared to the present day. It had colder climates, and it was dominated by giant mammals which are called megafauna. This era marks the first utilization of stone tool by man.

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