Surprising Facts About Neanderthals

Neanderthals, who went extinct somewhere in the neighborhood

of 40,000 years ago, were just one of the many evolutionary ancestors of modern humans

And while they have been long thought of as crude, unintelligent cavemen who could barely wrap their minds

around affordable car insurance, there was actually a lot more to them

So today, we're going to take a look at some surprising facts about Neanderthals

OK, time for some weird prehistory. You might think Neanderthals are named after something having to do with prehistoric times

or the anthropological details of their existence, but they're actually named after a dude who wrote

gospel music. Allow us to explain. The first Neanderthal remains were found in Germany in 1829

but it wasn't until 1856, with the discovery of additional bones, that scientists began to

speculate they had the remains of a human ancestor. In 1864, geologist William King named the

hominid species, opting for Homo neanderthalensis, a term only later applied to the initial find

from 1829. King used the Neander Valley in the name because that's where the initial discoveries

were made. The valley itself, located near Dusseldorf, Germany, takes its name from 17th

century pastor and hymn composer Joachim Neander. In an amazing coincidence, Neander is the Greek

translation of his name, and both mean new man. So a new man was discovered in a valley named after a

man whose name means new man. Maybe it's no coincidence at all. It was long believed that

modern humans replaced Neanderthals rather than intermingling with them at the prom. But then the

ability to evaluate DNA evidence came along and gave everyone a big surprise. Experts believe most

people outside of Africa, where Neanderthals aren't known to have existed, have somewhere around

2% Neanderthal DNA in them. 2% may not seem like a lot

but considering human DNA is only 1.6% different from a gorilla's, it's significant

Interestingly, many people who have Neanderthal genes in their DNA are predisposed to pollen and animal hair allergies

It was the caveman who invented Allegra. Picture this. Millions of years from now

alien visitors are digging up the remains of human civilization. but the only complete skeleton they discover belonged to Shaquille O'Neal

They might assume Shaq was an example of an average person, and conclude that Earth was a planet of giants who all starred in the motion picture Steel

Similarly, the stereotypical image of Neanderthals as being hunched over came about because the first Neanderthal skeleton ever discovered belonged to a person with arthritis

In 1908 French paleontologist Marcelin Boulle reconstructed a complete Neanderthal skeleton the first of its kind But Boulle efforts produced a hunched figure with bent knees

and a brutish appearance, leading him to conclude that all Neanderthals were . However

research conducted in 2018 and 2019 indicated Neanderthals have much better posture than

previously believed, affirming earlier speculation that the bones may have been those of an arthritic

old man. The remains of Neanderthals have, for the most part, been found in caves, hence the

whole caveman nomenclature. But they were much more sophisticated than you may have realized

Stalagmite formations in the Averon Valley of France demonstrate that these cavemen had a level

of social organization that was more complex than previously thought. Two man-made chambers

constructed out of roughly 400 broken stalagmites, columns or mounds formed on cave floors

were deliberately moved into ring formations. The stalagmites varied in size and were placed over 360 feet back into the cave

Researchers speculate as to what these structures were used for, suggesting it was a meeting place for some type of ritual social behavior

We're thinking it's a prehistoric roller rink, but we can't rule out caveman disco either

The Flintstones, notwithstanding, when we see prehistoric people in fiction, they usually don't speak a language and just kind of grunt a lot

Given man's evolutionary connections to apes, it wasn't unreasonable for Hollywood to assume

that's what early humans would sound like. But an examination of Neanderthal tracheal anatomy suggests they probably had high-pitched

raspy voices. In fact, by looking at the trachea of Neanderthals, scientists have determined that not only did

they speak, but they did so using sounds comparable to those used by contemporary speakers

Neanderthals, equipped with bigger voice boxes, likely had vocal cords and a hyoid

the bone that supports the tongue, that sit forward of where they sit in modern humans

The shape of a Neanderthal's vocal tract, ribcage, skull, and nasal cavity increased the pitch and

added power to their voice. So, Neanderthals likely had very powerful, high-pitched, raspy

voices. Basically, a whole society of Axel Roses. Or would that be Axel's Rose

Another thing you seldom see prehistoric people do in fiction is get around in vehicles

And while it is fun to imagine cavemen running errands in those Flintstone cars you have to

power with your feet, it doesn't really feel like something the writers drew from actual history

But that's why it's so surprising to learn that evidence suggests Neanderthals may have

used boats before modern humans, somewhere in the area of 100,000 years ago

Now, before you ask, no one has ever found a Neanderthal boat or anything like that yet

So how do we know Researchers actually base their assertions on musterian tools stone implements used by Neanderthals found on three Mediterranean islands It possible Neanderthals could have swum to the islands

which range from 5 to 12 kilometers away, but that does not explain the presence of the tools

Comparable stone tools found on Crete date to 130,000 years ago, which possibly places Neanderthals on the water even earlier

Is anyone suddenly itching for a Neanderthals of the Caribbean movie? Back in Neanderthal times, they didn't have much in the way of entertainment

So people didn't have a whole lot to do at night but gaze up at the sky. And about 70,000 years ago, a red dwarf star passed extremely close to our solar system

Extremely close being a relative term when discussing astronomical distances. But this red dwarf was so close that it actually passed through the solar system's outer shell

known as the Oort Cloud. There, the red dwarf, also known as Schultz's star

actually disrupted the gravitational movement of comets and asteroids. The disruption, which is still detectable today

shifted the trajectories of some of the 340 objects in the solar system to a hyperbolic orbit

The whole thing may have been visible to early humans and Neanderthals. And while it's tempting to think it would have been like some prehistoric version of a dark side of the moon laser show

the Schultz's star would have simply looked like a small red light in the sky

In modern English, the term Neanderthal connotes a lack of intelligence, a sense of barbarism, and an overall harsh vibe

But a reassessment of Neanderthal skulls tells a different story. It seems that Neanderthals actually had a large occipital brain volume

the part of the brain used for visual processing. The frontal lobe of a Neanderthal brain was smaller than that of a modern human

suggesting a difference in social cognition, but not necessarily of cognitive inferiority

In other words, Neanderthals had significantly larger brains than modern humans in some respects

and our assumed intellectual superiority is up for debate. In fact, while the decline of Neanderthals

is often attributed to their lack of intellectual ability, archaeologists have been quick to point out

there's not really any evidence for that assumption, which would mean modern humans prevailed

even though we might actually have been dumber. Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time someone got a promotion they didn't deserve

Neanderthals must have really been into taking care of each other, because millions of years after they disappeared, we still have evidence of their empathy

In an Iraqi cave, the remains of a Neanderthal, known as Shenador I

though we hope his actual name was something like Grog, revealed both physical deformities and deafness

Yet the man lived in prehistoric times until the age of 40. That indicates he was supported, fed, and cared for

even though he was likely unable to contribute to hunting and foraging Similarly the Neanderthal skull SH14 which belonged to a child shows signs of a brain deformity that could very well have led to abandonment or worse Instead the young child was cared for living to be about 5 years old

This same compassion is also seen in how Neanderthals cared for the dead, with evidence

suggesting some Neanderthals were buried according to specific burial rites. So maybe the Flintstones

wasn't that far off. Although archaeologists have yet to discover any evidence of dinosaur

powered appliances. Now, before your heart gets too warm from all that taking care of each other

stuff, we should probably mention that Neanderthals also liked to eat each other. It's not entirely

clear how the 12 Neanderthals whose remains were found in Cidron Cave in Spain died, but it is

clear that their bones show signs of cannibalism. Skeletons reveal six children and six adults

perhaps a family, had cut marks on many bones, including skulls and mandibles. Comparable

evidence has been found among Neanderthal remains found in Belgium and France, alongside

evidence of bones used to make tools to touch up the edges of flints to resharpen them

Hey, it was a Neanderthal-eat-Neanderthal world. Speaking of eating, despite being associated with meat-based diets, Neanderthals actually

ate all kinds of food. In fact, by assessing dental plaque and teeth erosion from Neanderthal skulls, scholars

discovered mouth microbiomes with much more diversity than previously believed. Seriously, they were not picky eaters

As it turns out, Neanderthals' diets were mostly the result of their environments. So while Neanderthals in Northern Europe ate a lot of meat

their counterparts in Spain relied on foraged nuts, tree bark, and plants

When it came to Neanderthals selecting a menu, it was more about what was available than preference

Sort of like every time you've ever eaten at a Long John Silver's. This also means that the so-called paleo diet isn't actually based on anything paleolithic

It actually came from 19th century dieting advocates. Next, they're going to tell us a beach didn't invent the South Beach diet

When it came time to eat, far from the stereotypical image of a caveman clubbing stuff to death

evidence suggests that Neanderthals were actually highly skilled hunters who used stealth and cunning to their advantage

In fact, experts believe that Neanderthals approached their prey until they were very close

and then thrust, not through, their spears at the animals, most likely from an underhand angle

This confrontational way of hunting required stealth, discipline, careful planning, concealment, and close cooperation between individual hunters

Also, incredible cardio. Evidence also shows they used torches and nets to hunt birds in caves by night

It was a fairly sophisticated use of tools that at least has to make you wonder

if maybe they really did have those Flintstone cars. Wilma