Neanderthals. New research revolutionizes knowledge about them

In recent years, knowledge of species neanderthal Significantly expanded. Although it is still difficult to find an answer to many questions, we can still talk about a revolution in the perception of Neanderthals.

For decades, Neanderthals were treated as close relatives of animals rather than wise man. This view has begun to reverse in recent years. It turns out that they can do a lot more than thought.

Neanderthals. Who is Kano? What can they do?

Neanderthals were about 155 to 165 centimeters long (although there were much taller individuals) and weighed about 55-90 kilograms. Most likely, they used speech, as evidenced by the hyoid bone found in 1983. Until then, it was believed that Neanderthals could not speak.

Neanderthal probably evolved from Homo heidelbergensis In the middle of the Pleistocene. The exact years are, of course, unknown and difficult to determine, but it is believed that they were about 400-350 thousand years ago. neanderthal They inhabited almost all of Europe except for Scandinavia. In 1938, it was established that they also inhabit high mountains, which had previously been a rejected thesis. About 40-30 thousand years ago, this species began to become extinct. Researchers are still arguing about why Neanderthals disappeared from our planet.

This is noted by Nicholas R. Longrich is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Bath in England neanderthal introduced a convergent set of behaviors to wise man. Neanderthals recovered and ate fire, buried their dead, made clothes, made jewelry out of shells and animal teeth, had their own artwork, and even stone churches.

“Neanderthal technology is believed to be very complex. This includes, for example:
Production of Mousterian flint tools
– the ability to make a fire,
Cave building furnaces,
– making glue from birch bark,
– manufacture at least simple clothes resembling blankets and ponchos,
– shipping in the mediterranean sea,
– the use of medicinal plants,
– treatment of severe injuries,
Ability to store food and knowledge of techniques such as baking, cooking and smoking. (archeologia.com.pl)

Recent excavations have proven that neanderthal Perhaps they can think abstractly and create simple things that have aesthetic value to them. What we might call “art” was recently found in a cave in the Harz Mountains, Germany. The artifact is a part of a deer bone that was specifically shaped and incised. Research has shown that before the ancient Neanderthals began to chop the bone, they cooked it first, so they put a lot of effort into preparing the body.

“Until now, we knew only the very simple and simple decorations and handprints left by our extinct cousins ​​on the walls of many caves in Spain. Anthropologists and archaeologists have not been able to determine whether these paintings can be considered art or rather should be treated as practical tools – instructions Or maps or signatures.Sculpture found in the Harz Mountains may shed new light on our current knowledge of Neanderthals.(focus.pl)

Innate warriors are finally lost

Neanderthals were great hunters, standing at the top of the food ladder, although at times they competed with larger predators (such as bears and cave lions) for food, or at least had to be counted.

neanderthal They hunted in groups. They were able to demolish even huge animals such as deer, moose, bison and even mammoths. However, Neanderthals didn’t just fight for food…Archaeological research showed that battles often took place between them as well. In the graves of Neanderthals, one can find smashed skulls or damaged bones in the forearms, which were shattered as a result of strong blows with some tools. In one of the tombstones, the remains were found imprinted on a shaft. Such injuries do not indicate that they occurred during hunting, but during tribal conflicts.

Here we come to the possible cause of extinction neanderthal.

Until now, it was believed that Neanderthals died shortly after contact with them sane manwho are better developed. However, new research in the Grote Mandarin cave in the Rhone Valley (southern France) has shown that Neanderthals and the ancestors of modern humans could coexist in Europe for up to 10,000 years.

Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Toulouse published their research in the journal Science Advances. They proved it sane man They came from Africa to Europe about 12,000 years earlier than was recently thought.

“The head of the research team that made these discoveries – A. Ludovic Selimak of the University of Toulouse – was amazed to learn that the discoveries prove the existence of such early human settlements.

– We are now able to show that Homo sapiens arrived 12,000 years earlier than we assumed – he emphasized. This group was later replaced by Neanderthals. This literally makes us rewrite all our history books.” (Polish Radio)

competition between neanderthal And the sane man It wasn’t entirely clear. Sometimes the human ancestors had an advantage, other times it was Neanderthals. Some researchers suggest that in the end to get an advantage through sane man More advanced types of weapons contributed. sane man They may have learned how to make arrowheads stick to arrows. Perhaps it was the bows that led, after thousands of years of competition, to the defeat of the Neanderthals.

The ability to produce arrows and bows was the result of a better developed brain in sane man. It also caused human ancestors to form larger, more organized groups and to communicate using more sophisticated language.

whether neanderthal Survived into modern times? Does man today have anything to do with Neanderthals? A 2010 study found that some humans alive today have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, indicating that the two species interbred with each other thousands of years ago.

Read also:
Haslington Brin 2,600 years old. A unique archaeological curiosityRead also:
Sultanate of Oman. Polish archaeologists discover a 4,000-year-old board game