Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) is an ancient human who lived in the Pleistonic period, namely ancient life between 2.6 million and 11,700 years ago. Not a few who think of them as primitive and savage ancient creatures, but various studies reveal otherwise.
Strong, intelligent, artistic, and skilled is a fitting description for Neanderthals. Not a few of them are artists, hunting experts, and good at cooking, you know. To find other interesting facts about Neanderthals, let’s look at the following description.
1. The name Neanderthal comes from the German valley
Two limestone miners stumbled across Neanderthal fossils in the Neanderthal Valley in Germany in 1856. They found fossils of skull bones, arm bones, and rib fragments, after removing sediment in the Grotte Kleine Feldhofer cave.
Although scientifically this discovery is the first, in fact many Neanderthal fossils have been found before but have not yet been given a name. The name Neanderthal man himself was coined by William King, an Irish geologist with a scientific name homo neanderthalensis according to the name of the valley.
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2. Can use fire to facilitate their work
illustration of Neanderthals making fire (nytimes.com)–
Not only Homo sapiens are good at lighting fires, it turns out that Neanderthals could also use fire to meet their needs, you know. Neanderthals used fire for cooking and made various tools that made their work easier.
They make tools by attaching logs to wooden slabs and attaching them with a natural adhesive substance made from tree bark birch which was burned. Very clever, right?
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3. Neanderthals are known as master artists
Neanderthal painting illustration(nationalgeographic.com/P.Saura–
Neanderthals are known as the earliest cave artists. From a 2018 study, there are art drawings in three caves in Spain such as dots, animals, as well as geometric red and black markings, hand stencils, carvings, and hand prints.
This drawing skill is thought to have existed before Homo sapiens came to Europe, which is 64,000 to 20 thousand years ago, you know.
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4. Share genetic traits with woolly mammoths
woolly mammoth illustration (abc.net.au/James Havens)–
The woolly mammoths that Neanderthals hunted have been shown to have genetic traits similar to those of Neanderthals. This is evident in a 2018 study, researchers found that there are some molecular signs of adaptation between Neanderthals and woolly mammoths that were able to adapt to cold environments.
Actually this is a reasonable thing, really. Both species evolved from an ancestor that originated in Africa before the cold climate of Ice Age Eurasia. Not only from the same area and conditions, it turns out that the time they both became extinct was the same. Of course this makes them good examples of convergent evolution, right?
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5. As a skilled hunting expert
illustration of Neanderthals hunting (history.com)–
The skills and cognitive abilities possessed by Neanderthals were considered great in hunting and coordinating attacks. Gerrit Dusseldoro as a researcher from the Netherlands noted that the elusive game turned out to be a favorite game for Neanderthals. Their good hand dexterity coupled with their intelligence proved to be able to produce an effective hunting tool. Strategic intelligence also allowed Neanderthals to be aware of deer migration patterns, when the deer moved, and much more.
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6. Not a few Neanderthals cross-breed with Homo sapiens
illustration Neanderthals (science.org/TOM BJÖRKLUND)–
In a study published by Journals of Nature In 2016, Homo sapiens, which is the forerunner of modern humans, is known to have had a relationship with Neanderthals since 100 thousand years ago in the Arabian Peninsula. They cross-breed when A wise man traveled from Africa.
The researchers found this fact from DNA analysis of Neanderthal women found in Siberia. In his DNA was also found DNA A wise mannih.
Unfortunately, the rampant interbreeding between them turned out to have a bad effect that caused the extinction of the Neanderthals. Because of this, ancient humans with pure Neanderthal DNA became increasingly difficult to find.
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7. Having a loud voice with a high pitch
illustration of early Neanderthals (history.com)–
Neanderthals spoke not with a snort like other early humans. Even though they did not have a perfect vocabulary like humans today, they could speak in a complex manner because of the hyoid bone in the neck to support the root of the tongue. This bone is the same as the bone for modern humans to speak.
Not only that, the shape of their large chest, posture, and throat can also produce a voice that is louder and higher-pitched than the average modern human, you know.
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8. Unlike other early humans, Neanderthals walked upright
illustration of neanderthals walking tall (edition.cnn.com)–
Not a few people who describe early humans as humans who have a bent back and walk like apes. In fact, reconstructions in the early 20th century found the fact that the Neanderthal skeleton was quite upright. They walk between the upright postures of humans and apes.
However, modern analysis shows that Neanderthals were closer to modern humans who walked upright. It turns out that there was a reason why there was an error in the estimates in the initial reconstruction. So, the initial skeleton used by researchers at the time was the skeleton of a person over 80 years old who had arthritis. Unique fact, yes.
You could say, Neanderthals are ancient humans who are close to A wise man which became the forerunner of modern man. They include ancient humans who are intelligent, highly artistic, skilled, and nimble, right? So, don’t think of them as primitive ancient humans anymore, okay?
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