2007-12-25 13:40:27 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
Nobody is certain. The Neanderthal were successful for many centuries. The evolved physical adaptations to cope with the harsh climate of the ice age and had technology that allowed them to live quite well. There's evidence that they lived at the same time as archaic humans. In theory what effected one should have harmed the other. For years it was thought that modern man simply killed off the Neanderthal as he moved into their territory. Neanderthal were cast as primitive cavemen competing with advanced, technologically superior humans. This theory is no longer accepted
Today DNA evidence shows that we are not descended from the Neanderthals. One theory, disproved by this discovery, was that Neanderthals interbreed with homo sapiens and their descendants live on today. One exhibit had even given a Neanderthal stature a shave and dressed him in evening clothes! More DNA work is being done.
It does not appear that the Neanderthal were killed off by the newer humans. The Middle East sites that show humans and Neanderthals living at the same time also shows them as doing so for thousands of years.Others do argue that the two groups migrated back and forth based on climate change. That they rarely met.
There may be some validity to the argument that man's technology caused him to be more effective and Neanderthal could not compete in the use of resources. The Neanderthal "tool kit", (the stone tools, spears, and hunting materials) does not appear to have significantly changed from the time the race first enters into the fossil record. Neanderthals show heavy wear on their teeth, suggesting the teeth were used as a vice, third arm and for processing food. Their bones are often found to be broken and then healed. Perhaps their hunting method caused these injuries (the same injuries are found among rodeo cowboys). Given these facts early man may have had an edge.
As the Neanderthal were extremely specialized in their adaptation to the ice age, the change in climate may have been the reason for their extinction. Once the glaciers melted, the available living space suited to them would have vanished or been greatly reduced. Unable to adapt, they may have died out.
One newer theory is that the Neanderthal birthrate was somewhat slower then early man's. Given this slower birthrate, perhaps one birth every several years, it can be shown that early man's numbers would increase faster and the Neanderthal would be crowded out. The addition stress of adapting to a warmer, drier climate may have induced the stress that caused them to die off.
2007-12-25 17:23:39 · answer #1 · answered by icabod 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
What Happened To The Neanderthal
2017-01-19 12:14:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neanderthals were particularly well suited for cold forests that developed in Ice Age Europe. Some of those forest receded about 50,000 years ago and Neanderthals may not have been as effective in less forested areas since it might make ambush less effective. In addition, Homo Sapiens, with its better tools moved into the area. There was certainly competition and probable outright warfare which was not to Neanderthals benefit. They perished about 30,000 years ago based on our fossil evidence but there are more recent stories of wild men from ancient text such as the bible, Beowolf and Gendel, and even recent sighting that suggest they may have survived much longer than previously believed.
2007-12-26 03:47:37 · answer #3 · answered by JimZ 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
He was a casualty...
They have found mass graves of Neanderthal as well as Cro-Magnon skeletal remains alongside each other...
Cro-Magnon was more robust in physique...
If they had tribal conflicts, over the course of 10,000 years, the Cro-Magnon eventually won out, and dominated Europe after 24,000 BCE...
At least 5 Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal Hybrid skeletal remains have been found, indicating that they could cross-breed, and so Neanderthal DNA could reside in a recessive form in modern humans...
After killing the Neanderthal males, the Cro-Magnon conceivably mated with the females, as they didn't look much different from one another...
2007-12-25 21:13:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He became extinct.
It was our ancestors what done him in.
I believe they were not only innocent of the deed but had no idea what was happening.
It seems that modern man (us, Homo Sapiens Sapien) had a different brain structure than our cousin, Neander. His brain was larger than our modern brain so this realization further dispells a fantasy we in America learned, the hard way, in relation to automobies that, .....bigger ain't necessarily better!
We have a more advanced cerebral hemisphere with a much more advanced neocortex. This allowed our ancestors to process information much more efficiently.
Poor Neander couldn't compete.
It may difficult to imagine but even a modern politician is smarter than the average Neanderthal.
Our species extincted their species; happens all the time with other animals and lower life forms.
2007-12-26 04:27:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, they had bigger brains than us, so propably they weren't more stupid. Maybe less verocious though. My guess (judging from the way moderen people behave towards each other today, racism etc. )is the neanderthals was slain by the homo sapiens sapiens, their being different and maybe clumsier.
2007-12-26 09:08:28 · answer #6 · answered by The Loiterer 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Pluto makes an interesting point. No offense to the actor, but he does fit the profile.
2007-12-26 01:28:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Have you seen any proff of a neandrathal man, I have not been convinced. I dont believe it ever existed, but then I believe in God and I believe he created us pretty much like we are now. Ive spent my whole life watching shows that claim to have found cave men but no in between link exists. ONe show I watched took a human skull and put a ape jaw on it and said that here it is but was latter proven wrong. It was years ago and I wish I could remember it in more detail.
2007-12-25 14:17:33 · answer #8 · answered by Manwae 3 · 0⤊ 6⤋
I saw one last nigt . He was the bus driver in that movie last night "Speed" Did anyone else catch his forehead in profile.
2007-12-25 22:36:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋