Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Maruli Marulaki on November 2, 2011 at 5:00pm

Thanks for sharing.   BTW, for anybody interested in the Neanderthals:   If you ever get to Düsseldorf/Germany, the original Neanderthal is at the outskirts. 

There is a really great museum there.   I live only about 20miles away and I really like that museum.

http://www.neanderthal.de/en/home/index.html

Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on November 2, 2011 at 5:37pm

I couldn't get to the source from the link. Is there a direct link to the article ?

Permalink Reply by Maruli Marulaki on November 2, 2011 at 5:40pm

the link to the article works, when I open it.

Permalink Reply by John Jubinsky on November 2, 2011 at 6:08pm

The link works for me too. You should be getting a Discovery article. The supplied link is not meant to take you to the Nature article.

Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on November 2, 2011 at 6:40pm

So, I've read what there is to read.

It's poorly written. For example, it says 'Europe's earliest known modern humans existed around 45,000 years ago in a southern Italian prehistoric cave, according to new research.' I mean, we know our ancestors were in South Eastern Europe first because they followed a westward overland route into Europe.

I need to read the source article which I found is only available to journalists.

Permalink Reply by John Jubinsky on November 3, 2011 at 5:27am

@ Napoleon:

 

There is first hand clarification in the article by the scientists who wrote both Nature articles as to the significance of the findings. Regarding this, in addition to the first hand clarification presented in the abstract the point is made that the findings fill a 5,000 year gap in the migration to Europe.

 

"With our findings, the gap is filled," said Benazzi, whose research was published this week in the journal Nature.

Permalink Reply by Maruli Marulaki on November 3, 2011 at 11:14am

This is another article about this topic:

Jawbone Found in England Is from the Earliest Known Modern Human in...

Permalink Reply by John Jubinsky on November 4, 2011 at 4:42am

Good find!

Permalink Reply by Michael Merry on November 7, 2011 at 9:57am

Interesting. Some anthropologists believe the Neanderthals were out-competed by modern humans, Neanderthals eventually disappearing some 25,000 years ago. So it seems we co-existed with Neanderthals in Europe for many thousands of years. Anyone know of evidence of conflict between the races? What impact might such conflict have had on the demise of the Neanderthals?

Permalink Reply by John Jubinsky on November 7, 2011 at 4:20pm

I don't know if any outright evidence of conflict exists. I haven't heard of any. However, I suspect that the more technologically advanced modern humans would have reacted to Neanderthal in much the same way that the newly arrived Europeans in the Americas reacted to the native Americans.

Permalink Reply by Michael Merry on November 8, 2011 at 9:12am

Reasonable assumption. Many examples throughout history of peoples/civilizations conquered or annihilated by more advanced peoples. As glaciers receded at the end of the last ice age, huge swathes of open land were exposed, conditions suited to modern humans/Cro Magnons. Neanderthals were not fleet of foot; their powerful stocky frames were suited to ambush hunting with thrust weapons at close range. It's likely Neanderthals had not developed advanced tool technologies and weapons such as the bone-tipped long range spear which allowed modern humans to bring down prey from a distance. A remarkable thing about the Neanderthals is their apparent lack of cultural and technological advancement over many thousands of years. Confronted by modern humans and changing climate, it was adapt or die. Neanderthals could not adapt; they were driven out and eventually confined themselves to areas of southern Europe

Permalink Reply by Maruli Marulaki on November 8, 2011 at 2:06pm

I read before, that modern humans threw their spears, while Neanderthals used their spears only to stab.    If the survival in the harsh climate really depended on the ruthless use of outgroups as resources, then throwing spears from a distance gave the modern humans an advantage in catching Neanderthals as food for cannibalism, as slaves or to take their supplies and furs away.

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