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Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Week 12
The Neanderthals
We are now coming to the current point in our evolutionary
history
...
The Neanderthals really do have something of an image
problem
...
He described them as
diseased, saying the spine showed evidence of arthritic scoliosis and that their arms would have
dragged along the floor
...
This popular concept stuck in our heads, and this kind of informs the idea
that Neanderthals were not as clever as us
...
If we think about the way in which images
of Neanderthals have changed over time, we can see that the image
has begun to change, but we still see them as ‘different’
...
This was not the case
...
Yes there
are differences – they have chunkier eyebrows for a start as well as
some other differences, but it has been said that if you dressed a
Neanderthal up in a hat and modern clothes you wouldn’t give them
a second glance
...

What do we know about Neanderthals
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They have a relatively long duration

-

They are a Eurasian species

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They have a very wide range – a mark of a successful species

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They have an extensive distribution across Eurasia

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They disappear sometime between 30-40KYA depending on who you believe

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What we start to see from around 50KYA is a gradual disappearance of Neanderthals in an
EastWest direction

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Following the disappearance of Neanderthals, humans start to occupy these areas

-

Homo sapiens turn up and wipe out an existing successful species – but this doesn’t really fit
the bill

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Neanderthals go extinct over a period of around 20 thousand years

-

We have genetic information, suggesting that there was an exchange of genetic information

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Direct evidence of conflict between the two species is limited in the extreme

Similarities
Going back to the
idea of similarity,
there are
differences
between
Neanderthals and
Homo sapiens
...
If you look at our skull relative to a
Neanderthals, it looks like someone has taken our skull
and squeezed it
...

They had a slightly bigger brain than us, but we cannot
tell if this directly related to superior brain-power in comparison to us
...

Tools
For much of their time the Neanderthals used a kind of tool technology known as Mousterian
technology
...
Around 35KYA, we find a different
kind of technology linked with Neanderthals, known as Chatelperronian Technology, which mirrors
the technology we see in Homo sapiens from around 50KYA
...
However, the method used to create these tools
was very different than the method used by Homo sapiens
...
The traditional image of us sweeping
in with a superior tool kit and brain than them is incorrect
– we were actually doing roughly the same thing
...
It requires collective symbolic understanding – the word
‘door’ means nothing unless both parties have the same symbolic understanding
...
We can only pick up
information once people write things down
...
If you look at our vocal abilities in comparison to Chimpanzees, we
have a much greater degree of fine control than they do, yes they are able to vocalise, but they do
not have the muscle control necessary to create words in the same way as us
...
it
is more U shaped, allowing less freedom of vocal range
...
However, there was an example found of a
Neanderthal skeleton who had a completely intact Hyoid bone, which looks exactly the same as
ours
...
It is possible to produce basic tools etc
...

The Evolution of Homo sapiens
What we know about ourselves is that we share a last common ancestor with the Neanderthals
...
For example, specific
gene mutations which are essential to language can be found in both us and Neanderthals,
suggesting that the capacity of language comes from that last common ancestor
...

The two earliest skeletons come from East Africa, allowing a pretty certain origin in that area
...
From the neck down the
changes are more subtle, but our head is very different
...

Models of Homo sapiens Origins
Out of Africa
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Suite of modern behaviours, culture and biology evolved in Africa

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Homo sapiens replaced in situ hominin populations with no gene flow

Multiregional Continuity
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Homo sapiens evolved from earlier hominin species in situ

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Significant gene slow between fringe populations during evolution

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Regional continuity of morphology

Assimilation
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Homo sapiens evolved first in Africa before dispersing

-

Post-dispersal gene flow with in situ hominin populations

Where and When
Africa
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Omo – 195KYA

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Herto – 160KYA

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Pinnacle Point – 165KYA

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Klaises Cave – 120-70KYA

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Taforalt – 95KYA

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Border Cave – 70KYA

Middle East
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Skhul

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Qafzeh – c
...
67KYA

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Niah Cave – 40KYA

Australia
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Lake Mungo – 50-60KYA

Europe
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Pestera cu Oase – 35KYA

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Kents Cavern – 30KYA

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Bacho Kiro – 43-40KYA

Physiological Data
We can combine the physiological data to understand the pressures that Homo sapiens had to cope
with
...

We have no adaptations to deal with high humidity environments
...


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Culturally, we are evolving faster than we have ever biologically evolved, but Biologically we
have not gone through many changes in the past 200 thousand years

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