Did you know that modern humans could breed with Neanderthals - and that we still have some of their DNA? How about the fact that they cared for their injured and buried their dead, but could also turn to cannibalism?
We're still finding out weird new things about the Neanderthals, but for now let's look at...
- Our Close Relatives
- Neanderthals and the Humans That Loved Them
- Prehistoric Community Spirit
- When Neanderthals Turned Cannibal
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| Neanderthals were more than simple cave-dwellers... (zashern) |
Our Close Relatives
Physically they were fairly squat and possessed a strong double-arched brow ridge, a wide nose and a fairly weak chin. They also had large front teeth - scratch marks on objects discovered by archaeologists suggest that they sometimes used these like the fingers of a third hand, allowing them to grip an item in their mouth.
One difference between our two species is that our ancestors evolved in Africa, while Neanderthals arose in Europe and Asia. This may actually offer an explanation for their wide noses - the larger nasal cavity would be better for warming cold air before taking it into the lungs.
Like us, Neanderthals were avid tool users - they are thought to have pioneered the Levallois technique, where stone "cores" are made ahead of time and turned into tools as the need arises. We also know that they were artistic, fashioning jewelry from bones or claws and using manganese dioxide as a black crayon to colour themselves and their outfits.
Neanderthals and the Humans That Loved Them
Did you know that humans carry Neanderthal DNA?
Researchers believe that modern Eurasian humans and Neanderthals share around two percent of their DNA. This isn't just some fluke of genetics - researchers have found solid evidence that modern humans and Neanderthals could and did interbreed.
Once such bit of evidence is a 37,000–42,000 year old "modern" human from Peștera cu Oase in Romania. Between six and nine percent of the DNA found in the remains was Neanderthal, which would indicate a direct Neanderthal ancestor as little as four generations ago. We also know that Neanderthals bred with other hominids. A 90,000 year old body (imaginatively named "Denny") found in a Siberian cave turned out to be half Neanderthal, half Denisovan!
Researchers have also found evidence that humans and Neanderthals may have kissed. A set of Neanderthal remains from El Sidrón in north-west Spain contained Methanobrevibacter oralis, a microorganism found in the modern human mouth.
Though our two species are thought to have diverged 450,000 years ago, the strain found with the Neanderthal matched the version found in humans only 120,000 years in the past. It's highly unlikely the fast-breeding microorganisms would have remained unchanged for 330,000 years - which suggests some kind of oral contact was going on, either through kissing or the sharing of food.
While this mingling may have given us a wider range of genes and helped fortify the modern human, it might have doomed the Neanderthals. Research indicates that they had more problems with disease than us, so being exposed to human grade pathogens from our ancestors may have helped drive the Neanderthals to extinction.
Interestingly, modern humans carrying the Neanderthal variant of the DPP4 gene may be more vulnerable to complications from Covid-19 as it offers the virus a second path into our cells.
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| Just how much did humans intermingle with Neanderthals? (Secoura) |
Prehistoric Community Spirit
Neanderthals get a bad rap - their name can even be used as a synonym for a dim brute. But is this a fair representation for a species that cared for their sick and buried their dead?
Our relatives led a dangerous life, in a dangerous place, in a dangerous time. Large predators could quickly kill or maim a hominid, while a struggling mammoth could easily inflict a bone-crushing injury. In fact (according to anthropologist Erik Trinkaus) Neanderthal skeletons almost always have at least one healed fracture.
One particularly extreme example was found in the Iraqi cave called Shanidar. The remains of a 40-45 year old male bore injuries including a crushed eye socket, damage to the right arm and shoulder, amputation of the forearm and a broken right leg. The most remarkable finding was injury-induced arthritis... meaning that he lived on after this maiming, something that would have been nigh-on impossible without help.
Neanderthal attitudes towards the dead seem to have varied, but they were (at least sometimes) buried in graves - which possibly explains why we have so many fossils to work with. The previously mentioned Shanidar excavation featured deliberately buried skeletons and a similar burial was found at La Chapelle-aux-Saints in France.
When Neanderthals Turned Cannibal
Not everything about Neanderthals paints a warm and cozy picture, as a cache of bones discovered in Belgium can attest.
The collection contained 40,500 to 45,500 year old bone fragments from four adults and a child (which sounds bad enough) but the most sinister clue came from tool marks on the remains. The fragments showed signs of hammer damage (typical when attempting to extract the bone marrow) alongside cuts and scrapes from an attempt to separate flesh from bone. As if to drive home the point, the bones were found near horse and reindeer remains that had undergone the exact same treatment.
Another find in the French cave of Baume Moula-Guercy revealed the remains of six Neanderthals beneath the sediment, each of which appeared to have been butchered and eaten. Archeologists were able to use charcoal and animal bones found in the area to build a picture of the environment at the time - it seems that the climate had warmed dramatically, possibly driving off the game on which the Neanderthals relied. Faced with a choice of starvation or cannibalism, they chose to live.
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