Neanderthals lived between 120,000 and 35,000 years ago in Europe during a time when there was a harsh ice age environment. Many of the discoveries surrounding Neanderthals help scientist examine human’s evolution by comparing similarities and differences in traits to modern human’s traits. For example, it is believed that Neanderthals could probably speak because they share a gene related to speech in humans. In this case, what we know about modern day humans helps us predict what traits Neanderthals where possible capable of having. Much of Neanderthals distinct traits can be related to their ice age adaptations. One of these traits is there short nature that is due to their short tibias. This trait is often found in cold climates and can even be seen in Eskimos and Laplanders. Neanderthals large brains can also be attributed to their cold climate environment as larger structure produce more heat. The climate they lived in helps scientist confirm things such as the Bergman’s rule, which relates to brain size and climate. One of the biggest thing scientist study about Neanderthals is their behavior in comparison to other species and modern groups since they are so distinctly different. What I found most interesting is the symbolic behavior. Neanderthals show some instances of compassion and caring for the elderly, which is not seen in earlier species. This trait of compassion is something modern humans share with them. Scientist continue to look at to what extent we are related or not related to Neanderthals.
One thing that paleoanthropologist have learned about from studying fossilized remains and the sites where our ancestors used to live, is an insight into hunting and its effect on the people of that time. Not just fossils but tools collected have let us know that our ancestors needed rocks to carve, cut, and possible kill the food. Tools give us insight into the mental capacity and way of life that Neanderthals had. Also, the changes in the body and brain of our ancestors are really associated with hunting and the traveling around that hunting is connected with. One physical adaptations are a smaller gut that suggest reliance on more efficient food such as meat. Another physical adaptation is the modern body proportions that result in more efficient long-distance walking. This is where we see them moving to a lot of different environments leading to regional variation that ultimately continues to diversify the populations. You have so many diverging species living in various environments that require different traits to survive. That’s why I think hunting and bipedalism are the biggest contributors to migration and ultimately the study of human diversity.
Hello Devonshire, I really enjoyed reading your post and feel that you made many great points. I didn’t realize how we gained information on how hunting was done. Tools give us insight into the mental capacity and way of life that Neanderthals had. It helped us understand there thought process a little bit and why they used certain tools. I think it’s interesting that they had smaller guts. I didn’t realize that this actually helps with a reliance on more efficient foods like meat. It’s also fascinating to see the different body proportions based on how much they traveled. This showed the movement to a lot of different environments leading to the regional variation that ultimately continues to diversify the populations. This helps us learn more about how we and other organisms evolved over time.
Hey Devonshire, I actually had very similar thoughts in my post! In terms of the development of the brain in Neanderthals, I think the lecture mentioned how behavior was related to these faster evolved brains. Because the actual brain was larger it was in turn more complex and developed which explains traits such as compassion and emotional intelligence. It’s also a really great point that even though these species have been heavily researched for years, continuous work is done to make the parallels with our ancestors and close relatives. On another note, I also found it interesting the relationship between the research on the tools used and every day behavior. It’s kind of a backwards approach of anthropology, but I think similarly, if someone from the future were to analyze our, let’s say, kitchen appliances, they would have an understanding of our technology and resources.