For this weeks blog topic, I decided to discuss the discovery of Neanderthals because there was a lot more information shared about their traits and behavior that stuck with me. Paleoanthropologists have studied Neanderthals’ anatomy and found many traits that have affected how scientists think about the fossil record and human evolution. Because this group of beings were living during the Ice Age, they experienced certain physical adaptations, such as being heavily muscled with thick bones. Through studies, their crural index seemed consistent with those of cold-adapted modern populations with a large mid-face and noses that are good for cold, dry conditions, as well as a the inheritance of having a large brain which is predicted by Bergmann’s rule. They were also suspicious about the fact that Neanderthals could have verbally communicated in their own way due to the fact that bones around the larynx are not anatomically distinct from modern humans; their brains were large and complex, and they likely needed speech to hunt. Further findings through analyzing Neanderthal DNA suggested that the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans between 700 and 516 kya and minor cross breeding prior to modern groups colonizing Asia.

Some evidence left behind has also provided new perspectives of fossil record and human evolution through the study of Neanderthal behavior. While trying to learn about Neanderthal culture, little evidence was found for shelters or organized camps, however, we know that they mostly stayed around rock shelters, and due to heavily worn front teeth, they may have covered their shelters with processed animal hides. Symbolic behavior was found through the few art pieces found, such as sea shells used as personal adornments and flutes. It can also be assumed that individuals helped their group members survive because many individuals had old wounds or were seriously injured, indicating they were cared for; examples of the dead carefully arranged in graves, sometimes in association with tools, food, and flowers, suggests that this group probably buried their dead.

In my opinion, the biggest contribution these findings have made to the study of human diversity are the ways we are able to track where these beings have traveled in order to survive and how they’ve adapted. These findings tell a story about where everyone comes from, how they got there in the first place, and why certain groups have become extinct. This map of groupings spreading to different lands really shows where the human diversity originates from, and knowing that we have common ancestors from one point in time hundreds and thousands of years ago is eye-opening to me. H. heidelbergensis had modern-size brains and diversified into regional variants — in europe, these were called Neanderthals, in central Asia, there was another group known as Denisovians, and in Africa, one group evolved in Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens. The genealogy process of connecting the dots when it comes to studying DNA and figuring out what it actually means is overall fascinating to me.