I have a question about the creatures called Neandertals, if someone who is a knower of sciences could help?

Question

I read that neadertals had brains larger than humans, and are believed to have come into existence 350,000 years ago, and gone extinct 20,000 years ago. I also read that people came into existence 130,000 years ago.

So my question is, is there a theory for why their technology developed so much slower. One would expected them to have launched satelites or gone to the moon 130,000 years after they popped into existence, like people have, given their brains. My book said they had bulgier fingers than humans. Is this what is believed to have made it hard for them to make technology?

So once again, the question is, what theories are there for why they didn't progress farther than they did?

Answer 1

Anatomically correct human beings came into existence, as you were saying, about 130,000 years ago. They looked like us. Take one, clean him off, dress him up, and he'd look just like a normal modern human being.
But -- try to talk to him. There's the difference. We think all the time, make connections between things that aren't connected, are spiritual and creative. The man from 130,000 years ago probably didn't think like us. "Integrated consciousness" developed some time between 100,000 years ago and 50,000 years ago.

Neanderthals most likely didn't have the integrated consciousness. When our kind, fully human Homo sapiens sapiens came around, the Neanderthals were pushed onto marginal land, isolated, and eventually they became extinct.

An interesting book to read along these lines is
Evolution
by Stephen Baxter.
It's a science fiction novel, but pretty good.

Answer 2

First, brain size is not the only determinant of intelligence. Elephants have bigger brains than we do, and have been around a lot longer than we have (the african elephant has been around at least 1.5 million years), but they are not very high on the technology scale at all.

Second, it is also a mistake to equate intelligence with the ability to produce technology. That's one feature of *human* intelligence, but it's a bit arrogant for humans to think that human intelligence is the only kind there is. E.g. many people recognize that cetaceans (whales and dolphins) are intelligent, but with a kind of intelligence that is unlikely ever to produce technology.

In other words, technology is more likely a possible side-effect of intelligence, not an inevitable result.

Third, there is nothing magical about a certain amount of time. It's not like 130,000 years is the approximate time needed to get to the moon, just because we did it. I.e., it's not like "because we went to the moon in 130,000 years, why didn't they?" It's not like either one started the clock ticking at a certain moment ... both species are the result of a long, slow development from earlier ancestors. And in any case, our own explosion of technology only happened within the last 10,000 years or so, so we spent at least 120,000 to 200,000 years (depending on what you consider to be the first H. sapiens) with technology not much better than chiseled spearheads (as did Neandertal).

However, I like your 'stumpy fingers' hypothesis. It makes a certain amount of sense and is worth looking for evidence. We once thought that the difference was *language* ... but we've since discovered that Neandertal had a hyoid bone, and so probably had a pretty good larynx ... but it is certainly true that language is a prerequisite for technology (which is why the chimps, who have very dextrous fingers, are not very far along). In fact, the common belief is that language is a key driving force in the expansion of the areas of the brain we currently associate with human-like intelligence.

So I'm not rejecting your hypothesis at all. It's very interesting.

Answer 3

Neandertals did indeed have larger brain's than moderm humans, but they were also larger in body size. Absolute brain size isn't as important as the ratio of brain size to body size. Remember, Whales have enormous brains compared to us, and we are much smarter! The complexity of the 'wiring' of the brain also matters very much, and we know nothing about the wiring of the Neandertal brain. Their intelligence could have been equal to, greater than, or less than the intelligence of homo sapiens.

In evolution, intelligence isn't the determining factor of success, reproduction is! It is possible the Neandertal's were smarter than us, but died out for other reasons. Maybe modern-type humans brought a disease that the Neandertal's had no tolerance for? Maybe they were simply outbred and outcompeted?

Answer 4

I think that neanderthals were just a higher evolved ape like species as far as brain capacity goes. They didn't know how to talk but they were smart enough to make rudimentary tools like clubs from tree branches. I think they were the first to make that differentiating leap from apes to man with their ability to see the use of theses tools and the use of fire as well. As for their downfall that is still left to be said. We are still looking for that missing link.

Answer 5

They might have not been as intelligent as humans, as brain size does not equal intelligence - just because whales have a brain that is 5 times as large as humans does not mean that they have 5 times the intelligence :-)

Answer 6

My guess is that once again, the fittest survived. And looking at how humans treat others of their own species but of different "races", I would not be surprised to read someday that homo sapiens killed off the Neanderthals....something to ponder...