Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
or
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of
archaic humans
A number of varieties of ''Homo'' are grouped into the broad category of archaic humans in the period that precedes and is contemporary to the emergence of the earliest early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') around 300 ka. Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) f ...
who lived in
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
until about 40,000 years ago. While the "causes of Neanderthal disappearance about 40,000 years ago remain highly contested," demographic factors such as small population size, inbreeding and
genetic drift
Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance.
Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...
, are considered probable factors. Other scholars have proposed competitive replacement, assimilation into the modern
human genome
The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the n ...
(bred into extinction), great
climatic change
''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chie ...
, disease, or a combination of these factors.
It is unclear when the line of Neanderthals split from that of
modern humans
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
; studies have produced various intervals ranging from 315,000 to more than 800,000 years ago. The date of divergence of Neanderthals from their ancestor ''
H. heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' (also ''H. sapiens heidelbergensis''), sometimes called Heidelbergs, is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' in ...
'' is also unclear. The oldest potential Neanderthal bones date to 430,000 years ago, but the classification remains uncertain. Neanderthals are known from numerous fossils, especially from after 130,000 years ago. The
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
,
Neanderthal 1
Feldhofer 1 or Neanderthal 1 is the scientific name of the 40,000-year-old type specimen fossil of the species ''Homo neanderthalensis'', found in August 1856 in a German cave, the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte in the Neandertal valley, east of Düs ...
, was found in 1856 in the
Neander Valley
The Neandertal (, also , ; sometimes called "the Neander Valley" in English) is a small valley of the river Düssel in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about east of Düsseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia. T ...
in present-day Germany. For much of the early 20th century, European researchers depicted Neanderthals as primitive, unintelligent, and brutish. Although knowledge and perception of them has markedly changed since then in the scientific community, the image of the unevolved
caveman
The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin ...
archetype
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
remains prevalent in popular culture.
Neanderthal technology was quite sophisticated. It includes the
Mousterian
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
stone-tool industry and ability to create fire and build cave
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
s, make the adhesive birch bark tar, craft at least simple clothes similar to blankets and ponchos, weave, go seafaring through the Mediterranean, and make use of
medicinal plants
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...
, as well as treat severe injuries, store food, and use various cooking techniques such as
roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelization ...
,
boiling
Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding atmosphere. Th ...
, and
smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
. Neanderthals made use of a wide array of food, mainly hoofed mammals, but also other
megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, the megafauna (from Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and New Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period, extinct and/or extant. The most common threshold ...
, plants, small mammals, birds, and aquatic and marine resources. Although they were probably
apex predator
An apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own.
Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic lev ...
s, they still competed with
cave bear
The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...
s, cave lions, cave hyaenas, and other large predators. A number of examples of symbolic thought and Palaeolithic art have been inconclusively attributed to Neanderthals, namely possible ornaments made from bird claws and feathers or shells, collections of unusual objects including crystals and fossils, engravings, music production (possibly indicated by the
Divje Babe flute
The Divje Babe flute is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was unearthed in 1995 during systematic archaeological excavations led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at ...
), and Spanish cave paintings contentiously dated to before 65,000 years ago. Some claims of religious beliefs have been made. Neanderthals were likely capable of speech, possibly articulate, although the complexity of their language is not known.
Compared with modern humans, Neanderthals had a more
robust
Robustness is the property of being strong and healthy in constitution. When it is transposed into a system, it refers to the ability of tolerating perturbations that might affect the system’s functional body. In the same line ''robustness'' ca ...
build and proportionally shorter limbs. Researchers often explain these features as adaptations to conserve heat in a cold climate, but they may also have been adaptations for sprinting in the warmer, forested landscape that Neanderthals often inhabited. Nonetheless, they had cold-specific adaptations, such as specialised body-fat storage and an enlarged nose to warm air (although the nose could have been caused by
genetic drift
Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance.
Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...
). Average Neanderthal men stood around and women tall, similar to pre-industrial modern humans. The braincases of Neanderthal men and women averaged about and respectively, which is within the range of the values for modern humans. The Neanderthal skull was more elongated and had smaller parietal lobes and cerebellum, morphological traits used to assign specimens to species.
The total population of Neanderthals remained low, proliferating weakly harmful gene variants, and precluding effective long-distance networks. Despite this, there is evidence of regional cultures and thus of regular communication between communities. They may have frequented caves, and moved between them seasonally. Neanderthals lived in a high-stress environment with high trauma rates, and about 80% died before the age of 40. The 2010
Neanderthal genome project
The Neanderthal genome project is an effort of a group of scientists to sequence the Neanderthal genome, founded in July 2006.
It was initiated by 454 Life Sciences, a biotechnology company based in Branford, Connecticut in the United States and ...
's draft report presented evidence for interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans. It possibly occurred 316–219 thousand years ago, but more likely 100,000 years ago and again 65,000 years ago. Neanderthals also appear to have interbred with
Denisovans
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Denisovans are known from few physical remains and consequently, most of what is known ...
, a different group of archaic humans, in Siberia. Around 1–4% of genomes of
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
ns,
Australo-Melanesians
Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
ns is of Neanderthal ancestry, while the inhabitants of
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
have only 0.3% of Neanderthal genes, save possible traces from early Sapiens-to-Neanderthal gene flow and/or more recent back-migration of Eurasians to Africa. In all, about 20% of distinctly Neanderthal gene variants survive today. Although many of the gene variants inherited from Neanderthals may have been detrimental and selected out, Neanderthal
introgression
Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Intr ...
appears to have affected the modern human
immune system
The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...
,
and is also implicated in several other biological functions and structures, but a large portion appears to be
non-coding DNA
Non-coding DNA (ncDNA) sequences are components of an organism's DNA that do not encode protein sequences. Some non-coding DNA is transcribed into functional non-coding RNA molecules (e.g. transfer RNA, microRNA, piRNA, ribosomal RNA, and regul ...
.
Taxonomy
Etymology
Neanderthals are named after the Neandertal Valley in which the first identified specimen was found. The valley was spelled ''Neanderthal'' and the species was spelled ''Neanderthaler'' in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
until the spelling reform of 1901. The spelling ''Neandertal'' for the species is occasionally seen in English, even in scientific publications, but the scientific name, ''H. neanderthalensis'', is always spelled with ''th'' according to the
principle of priority
270px, '' valid name.
Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two asp ...
. The vernacular name of the species in German is always ''Neandertaler'' ("inhabitant of the Neander Valley"), whereas ''Neandertal'' always refers to the valley. The valley itself was named after the late 17th century German theologian and hymn writer
Joachim Neander
Joachim Neander (165031 May 1680) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) Church teacher, theologian and hymnwriter whose most famous hymn, '' Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation'' (german: Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König d ...
, who often visited the area. His name in turn means ‘new man’, being a learned Graecization of the German surname ''Neumann''.
''Neanderthal'' can be pronounced using the (as in ) or the standard English pronunciation of ''th'' with the fricative / θ/ (as ).
Neanderthal 1
Feldhofer 1 or Neanderthal 1 is the scientific name of the 40,000-year-old type specimen fossil of the species ''Homo neanderthalensis'', found in August 1856 in a German cave, the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte in the Neandertal valley, east of Düs ...
, the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
, was known as the "Neanderthal cranium" or "Neanderthal skull" in anthropological literature, and the individual reconstructed on the basis of the skull was occasionally called "the Neanderthal man". The binomial name ''Homo neanderthalensis''—extending the name "Neanderthal man" from the individual specimen to the entire species, and formally recognising it as distinct from humans—was first proposed by Irish geologist William King in a paper read to the 33rd
British Science Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
in 1863. However, in 1864, he recommended that Neanderthals and modern humans be classified in different genera as he compared the Neanderthal braincase to that of a chimpanzee and argued that they were "incapable of moral and
theism">theistic
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
] conceptions".
Research history
The first Neanderthal remains—
Engis 2
Engis 2 refers to part of an assemblage, discovered in 1829 by Dutch physician and naturalist Philippe-Charles Schmerling in the lower of the Schmerling Caves. The pieces that make up Engis 2 are a partially preserved calvaria (cranium) and ass ...
(a skull)—were discovered in 1829 by Dutch naturalist
Philippe-Charles Schmerling
Philippe-Charles or Philip Carel Schmerling (2 March 1791 Delft – 7 November 1836, Liège) was a Dutch/Belgian prehistorian, pioneer in paleontology, and geologist. He is often considered the founder of paleontology.
In 1829 he discovered ...
in the Grottes d'Engis, Belgium, but he thought it was a fossil modern human skull. In 1848, Gibraltar 1 from
Forbes' Quarry
Forbes' Quarry is located on the northern face of the Rock of Gibraltar within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The area was quarried during the 19th century to supply stone for reinforcing the fortr ...
was presented to the Gibraltar Scientific Society by their Secretary Lieutenant Edmund Henry Réné Flint, but was also thought to be a modern human skull. In 1856, local schoolteacher
Johann Carl Fuhlrott
Prof. Dr. Johann Carl Fuhlrott (31 December 1803, Leinefelde, Germany – 17 October 1877, Wuppertal) was an early German paleoanthropologist. He is famous for recognizing the significance of the bones of Neanderthal 1, a Neanderthal specimen dis ...
recognised bones from
Kleine Feldhofer Grotte
Kleine Feldhofer Grotte was a karstic limestone cave and a paleoanthropologic site in the Neander Valley in western Germany. In August 1856, the Neanderthal type specimen was unearthed from the cave. Miners uncovered a skull cap and a number of ...
in Neander Valley—Neanderthal 1 (the
holotype specimen
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
)—as distinct from modern humans, and gave them to German anthropologist
Hermann Schaaffhausen
Hermann Schaaffhausen (19 July 1816, Koblenz – 26 January 1893, Bonn) was a German anatomist, anthropologist, and paleoanthropologist.
Biography
Hermann Schaaffhausen was the son of Josef Hubert Schaaffhausen and Anna Maria Wachendorf. He s ...
to study in 1857. It comprised the cranium, thigh bones, right arm, left
humerus
The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...
and
ulna
The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...
shoulder blade
The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either ...
, and pieces of the
rib
In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...
s. Following
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
's ''
On the Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
'', Fuhlrott and Schaaffhausen argued the bones represented an ancient modern human form; Schaaffhausen, a
social Darwinist
Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in W ...
, believed that humans linearly progressed from savage to civilised, and so concluded that Neanderthals were barbarous cave-dwellers. Fuhlrott and Schaaffhausen met opposition namely from the prolific pathologist
Rudolf Virchow
Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (; or ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder ...
who argued against defining new species based on only a single find. In 1872, Virchow erroneously interpreted Neanderthal characteristics as evidence of
senility
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affec ...
, disease, and malformation instead of archaicness, which stalled Neanderthal research until the end of the century.
By the early 20th century, numerous other Neanderthal discoveries were made, establishing ''H. neanderthalensis'' as a legitimate species. The most influential specimen was
La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1
La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 ("The Old Man") is an almost-complete male Neanderthal skeleton discovered in La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France by A. and J. Bouyssonie, and L. Bardon in 1908.
The individual was about 40 years of age at the time of his deat ...
("The Old Man") from
La Chapelle-aux-Saints
La Chapelle-aux-Saints (; oc, La Chapela daus Sents) is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.
History Neanderthal skeleton
The La Chapelle-aux-Saints cave, bordering the Sourdoire valley, revealed many archeological artifacts ...
, France. French palaeontologist
Marcellin Boule
Pierre-Marcellin Boule (1 January 1861 – 4 July 1942), better known as merely Marcellin Boule, was a French palaeontologist, geologist, and anthropologist.
Early life and education
Pierre-Marcellin Boule was born in Montsalvy, France.
Care ...
authored several publications, among the first to establish palaeontology as a science, detailing the specimen, but reconstructed him as slouching, ape-like, and only remotely related to modern humans. The 1912 'discovery' of
Piltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning, the remains ...
(a hoax), appearing much more similar to modern humans than Neanderthals, was used as evidence that multiple different and unrelated branches of primitive humans existed, and supported Boule's reconstruction of ''H. neanderthalensis'' as a far distant relative and an
evolutionary dead-end
Ecological fitting is "the process whereby organisms colonize and persist in novel environments, use novel resources or form novel associations with other species as a result of the suites of traits that they carry at the time they encounter the ...
. He fuelled the popular image of Neanderthals as barbarous, slouching, club-wielding primitives; this image was reproduced for several decades and popularised in
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
works, such as the 1911 ''
The Quest for Fire
''The Quest for Fire'' (french: La Guerre du feu, literally ''The War for Fire'') is a 1911 Belgian fantasy novel by " J.-H. Rosny", the pseudonym of two brothers; the author was actually the elder of the two, Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (1856– ...
The Grisly Folk
H. G. Wells was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His writing career spanned more than sixty years, and his early science fiction novels earned him the title (along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback) of "The Father of Scienc ...
Arthur Keith
Sir Arthur Keith FRS FRAI (5 February 1866 – 7 January 1955) was a British anatomist and anthropologist, and a proponent of scientific racism. He was a fellow and later the Hunterian Professor and conservator of the Hunterian Museum of the R ...
reconstructed La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 as an immediate precursor to modern humans, sitting next to a fire, producing tools, wearing a necklace, and having a more humanlike posture, but this failed to garner much scientific rapport, and Keith later abandoned his thesis in 1915.
By the middle of the century, based on the exposure of Piltdown Man as a hoax as well as a reexamination of La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 (who had
osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone which affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the w ...
which caused slouching in life) and new discoveries, the scientific community began to rework its understanding of Neanderthals. Ideas such as Neanderthal behaviour, intelligence, and culture were being discussed, and a more humanlike image of them emerged. In 1939, American anthropologist
Carleton Coon
Carleton Stevens Coon (June 23, 1904 – June 3, 1981) was an American anthropologist. A professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer and professor at Harvard University, he was president of the American Association of ...
reconstructed a Neanderthal in a modern business suit and hat to emphasise that they would be, more or less, indistinguishable from modern humans had they survived into the present.
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
's 1955 novel '' The Inheritors'' depicts Neanderthals as much more emotional and civilised. However, Boule's image continued to influence works until the 1960s. In modern-day, Neanderthal reconstructions are often very humanlike.
Hybridisation between Neanderthals and early modern humans had been suggested early on, such as by English anthropologist
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stor ...
in 1890, Danish ethnographer
Hans Peder Steensby
Hans Peder Steensby (25 March 1875, Steensby, Skamby Sogn, Funen Island – 20 October 1920, aboard ship Frederik VIII) was an ethnographer, geographer and professor at the University of Copenhagen.H. P. Steensby: Racestudier i Danmark' (PDF; 1,22 ...
in 1907, and Coon in 1962. In the early 2000s, supposed hybrid specimens were discovered: Lagar Velho 1 and Muierii 1. However, similar anatomy could also have been caused by adapting to a similar environment rather than interbreeding.
Neanderthal admixture
There is evidence for interbreeding between archaic and modern humans during the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic. The interbreeding happened in several independent events that included Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as seve ...
was found to be present in modern populations in 2010 with the mapping of the first Neanderthal genome sequence. This was based on 3 specimens in
Vindija Cave
Vindija Cave is an archaeological site associated with Neanderthals and modern humans, located in the municipality of Donja Voća, northern Croatia. Three of these Neanderthals were selected as the primary sources for the first draft sequence o ...
, Croatia, which contained almost 4% archaic DNA (allowing for near complete sequencing of the genome). However, there was approximately 1 error for every 200 letters (
base pair
A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...
s) based on the implausibly high mutation rate, probably due to the preservation of the sample. In 2012, British-American geneticist
Graham Coop
Graham Coop (born 23 May 1979) is a British-American population geneticist. He is a professor in both the Department of Evolution and Ecology and the Center for Population Biology in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Calif ...
hypothesised that they instead found evidence of a different archaic human species interbreeding with modern humans, which was disproven in 2013 by the sequencing of a high-quality Neanderthal genome preserved in a toe bone from Denisova Cave, Siberia.
Classification
Neanderthals are
hominid
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...
s in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''
Homo
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus ''Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely relate ...
'', humans, and generally classified as a distinct
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, ''H. neanderthalensis'', although sometimes as a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of modern human as ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis''. This would necessitate the classification of modern humans as '' H. sapiens sapiens''.
A large part of the controversy stems from the vagueness of the term "species", as it is generally used to distinguish two genetically isolated populations, but admixture between modern humans and Neanderthals is known to have occurred. However, the absence of Neanderthal-derived patrilineal
Y-chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...
and matrilineal
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
(mtDNA) in modern humans, along with the underrepresentation of Neanderthal
X chromosome
The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes (allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex-d ...
DNA, could imply reduced fertility or frequent sterility of some hybrid crosses, representing a partial biological reproductive barrier between the groups, and therefore species distinction. In 2014 geneticist
Svante Pääbo
Svante Pääbo (; born 20 April 1955) is a Swedish geneticist who specialises in the field of evolutionary genetics. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. In 1997, he became founding dire ...
summarised the controversy, describing such "
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
wars" as unresolvable, "since there is no definition of species perfectly describing the case".
Neanderthals are thought to have been more closely related to
Denisovan
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Denisovans are known from few physical remains and consequently, most of what is known ...
s than to modern humans. Likewise, Neanderthals and Denisovans share a more recent
last common ancestor
In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...
(LCA) than to modern humans, based on
nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It ...
(nDNA). However, Neanderthals and modern humans share a more recent mitochondrial LCA (observable by studying mtDNA). This likely resulted from an interbreeding event subsequent to the Neanderthal/Denisovan split which introduced another mtDNA line. This involved either introgression coming from an unknown archaic human into Denisovans, or introgression from an earlier unidentified modern human wave from Africa into Neanderthals.
Evolution
It is largely thought that ''
H. heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' (also ''H. sapiens heidelbergensis''), sometimes called Heidelbergs, is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' in ...
'' was the last common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans before populations became isolated in Europe, Asia, and Africa, respectively. The taxonomic distinction between ''H. heidelbergensis'' and Neanderthals is mostly based on a fossil gap in Europe between 300 and 243 thousand years ago during
marine isotope stage
Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, or oxygen isotope stages (OIS), are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from data ...
8. "Neanderthals", by convention, are fossils which date to after this gap. However, 430,000-year old bones at Sima de los Huesos could represent early Neanderthals or a closely related group, and the 400,000-year old
Aroeira 3
Aroeira 3 is a 400,000 year old ''Homo heidelbergensis'' hominid skull which was discovered in the Aroeira cave, Portugal. It is the earliest human trace in Portugal. ''H. heidelbergensis'' existed at the transition between ''Homo erectus'' and e ...
could represent a transitional phase.
Ancestral
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
and
derived
Derive may refer to:
* Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments
* ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism
*Dérive, a psychogeographical concept
See also
*
*Derivation (disambiguatio ...
morphs could have lived concurrently. It is also possible that there was gene flow between Western Europe and Africa during the Middle Pleistocene, obscuring Neanderthal characteristics in such specimens, namely from Ceprano, Italy, and
Sićevo Gorge
The Sićevo Gorge ( sr, Sićevačka klisura; sr-cyr, Сићевачка клисура, ), a river gorge and archaeological site in southeastern Serbia, is the locally most prominent geological and topographic feature formed by the Nišava River. ...
, Serbia. The fossil record is much more complete from 130,000 years ago onwards, and specimens from this period make up the bulk of known Neanderthal skeletons. Dental remains from the Italian Visogliano and Fontana Ranuccio sites indicate that Neanderthal dental features had evolved by around 450–430 thousand years ago during the
Middle Pleistocene
The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The ...
.
There are two main hypotheses regarding the evolution of Neanderthals following the Neanderthal/human split: two-phase and accretion. Two-phase argues that a single major environmental event—such as the
Saale glaciation
The Saale glaciation or Saale Glaciation, sometimes referred to as the Saalian glaciation, Saale cold period (german: Saale-Kaltzeit), Saale complex (''Saale-Komplex'') or Saale glacial stage (''Saale-Glazial'', colloquially also the ''Saale-Eiszei ...
—caused European ''H. heidelbergensis'' to increase rapidly in body size and robustness, as well as undergoing a lengthening of the head (phase 1), which then led to other changes in skull anatomy (phase 2). However, Neanderthal anatomy may not have been driven entirely by adapting to cold weather. Accretion holds that Neanderthals slowly evolved over time from the ancestral ''H. heidelbergensis'', divided into four stages: early-pre-Neanderthals (
MIS 12
The Anglian Stage is the name used in the British Isles for a middle Pleistocene glaciation. It precedes the Hoxnian Stage and follows the Cromerian Stage in the British Isles. The Anglian Stage is correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 12 (MIS 12), ...
,
Elster glaciation
The Elster glaciation (german: Elster-Kaltzeit, ''Elster-Glazial'' or ''Elster-Zeit'') or, less commonly, the Elsterian glaciation, in the older and popular scientific literature also called the Elster Ice Age (''Elster-Eiszeit''), is the oldest k ...
), pre-Neanderthals ''
sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
Saale glaciation
The Saale glaciation or Saale Glaciation, sometimes referred to as the Saalian glaciation, Saale cold period (german: Saale-Kaltzeit), Saale complex (''Saale-Komplex'') or Saale glacial stage (''Saale-Glazial'', colloquially also the ''Saale-Eiszei ...
–
Eemian
The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Ri ...
), and classic Neanderthals ''
sensu stricto
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
'' (MIS 4–3,
Würm glaciation
The Würm glaciation or Würm stage (german: Würm-Kaltzeit or ''Würm-Glazial'', colloquially often also ''Würmeiszeit'' or ''Würmzeit''; cf. ice age), usually referred to in the literature as the Würm (often spelled "Wurm"), was the last g ...
).
Numerous dates for the Neanderthal/human split have been suggested. The date of around 250,000 years ago cites "'' H. helmei''" as being the last common ancestor (LCA), and the split is associated with the
Levallois technique
The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 300,000 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was u ...
of making stone tools. The date of about 400,000 years ago uses ''H. heidelbergensis'' as the LCA. Estimates of 600,000 years ago assume that "''
H. rhodesiensis
''Homo rhodesiensis'' is the species name proposed by Arthur Smith Woodward (1921) to classify Kabwe 1 (the "Kabwe skull" or "Broken Hill skull", also "Rhodesian Man"), a Middle Stone Age fossil recovered from a cave at Broken Hill, or Kabwe, ...
''" was the LCA, which split off into modern human lineage and a Neanderthal/''H. heidelbergensis'' lineage. 800,000 years ago has ''
H. antecessor
''Homo antecessor'' (Latin "pioneer man") is an extinct species of archaic human recorded in the Spanish Sierra de Atapuerca, a productive archaeological site, from 1.2 to 0.8 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene. Populations of thi ...
'' as the LCA, but different variations of this model would push the date back to 1 million years ago. However, a 2020 analysis of ''H. antecessor'' enamel
proteome
The proteome is the entire set of proteins that is, or can be, expressed by a genome, cell, tissue, or organism at a certain time. It is the set of expressed proteins in a given type of cell or organism, at a given time, under defined conditions. ...
s suggests that ''H. antecessor'' is related but not a direct ancestor. DNA studies have yielded various results for the Neanderthal/human divergence time, such as 538–315, 553–321, 565–503, 654–475, 690–550, 765–550, 741–317, and 800–520 thousand years ago; and a dental analysis concluded before 800,000 years ago.
Neanderthals and Denisovans are more closely related to each other than they are to modern humans, meaning the Neanderthal/Denisovan split occurred after their split with modern humans. Assuming a mutation rate of 1 × 10−9 or 0.5 × 10−9 per
base pair
A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...
(bp) per year, the Neanderthal/Denisovan split occurred around either 236–190 or 473–381 thousand years ago respectively. Using 1.1 × 10−8 per generation with a new generation every 29 years, the time is 744,000 years ago. Using 5 × 10−10
nucleotide
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules wi ...
sites per year, it is 616,000 years ago. Using the latter dates, the split had likely already occurred by the time hominins spread out across Europe, and unique Neanderthal features had begun evolving by 600–500 thousand years ago. Before splitting, Neanderthal/Denisovans (or "Neandersovans") migrating out of Africa into Europe apparently interbred with an unidentified "superarchaic" human species who were already present there; these superarchaics were the descendants of a very early migration out of Africa around 1.9 mya.
Demographics
Range
Pre- and early Neanderthals, living before the Eemian interglacial (130,000 years ago), are poorly known and come mostly from Western European sites. From 130,000 years ago onwards, the quality of the fossil record increases dramatically with classic Neanderthals, who are recorded from Western, Central, Eastern, and Mediterranean Europe, as well as
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, Central, and Northern Asia up to the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...
in southern Siberia. Pre- and early Neanderthals, on the other hand, seem to have continuously occupied only France, Spain, and Italy, although some appear to have moved out of this "core-area" to form temporary settlements eastward (although without leaving Europe). Nonetheless, southwestern France has the highest density of sites for pre-, early, and classic Neanderthals.
The southernmost find was recorded at
Shuqba Cave
Shuqba cave is an archaeological site near the town of Shuqba in the western Judaean Mountains in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate of the West Bank.
Location
Shuqba cave is located on the northern bank of Wadi en-Natuf. This wadi is a kilo ...
, Levant; reports of Neanderthals from the North African
Jebel Irhoud
Jebel Irhoud or Adrar n Ighoud ( zgh, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⵖⵓⴷ, Adrar n Iɣud; ar, جبل إيغود, žbəl iġud), is an archaeological site located just north of the locality known as Tlet Ighoud, approximately south-east of the cit ...
and
Haua Fteah
Haua Fteah () is a large karstic cave located in the Cyrenaica in northeastern Libya. This site has been of significance to research on African archaeological history and anatomically modern human prehistory because it was occupied during the Mid ...
have been reidentified as ''H. sapiens''. Their easternmost presence is recorded at
Denisova Cave
Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
, Siberia 85°E; the southeast Chinese Maba Man, a skull, shares several physical attributes with Neanderthals, although these may be the result of
convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
rather than Neanderthals extending their range to the Pacific Ocean. The northernmost bound is generally accepted to have been 55°N, with unambiguous sites known between 50– 53°N, although this is difficult to assess because glacial advances destroy most human remains, and palaeoanthropologist Trine Kellberg Nielsen has argued that a lack of evidence of Southern Scandinavian occupation is (at least during the Eemian interglacial) due to the former explanation and a lack of research in the area. Middle Palaeolithic artefacts have been found up to 60°N on the Russian plains, but these are more likely attributed to modern humans. A 2017 study claimed the presence of ''Homo'' at the 130,000 year old Californian
Cerutti Mastodon site
The Cerutti Mastodon site is a paleontological and possible archeological site located in San Diego County, California. In 2017, researchers announced that broken mastodon bones at the site had been dated to around 130,700 years ago.
The bones ...
in North America, but this is largely considered implausible.
It is unknown how the rapidly fluctuating climate of the last glacial period (
Dansgaard–Oeschger event
Dansgaard–Oeschger events (often abbreviated D–O events), named after palaeoclimatologists Willi Dansgaard and Hans Oeschger, are rapid climate fluctuations that occurred 25 times during the last glacial period. Some scientists say that th ...
s) impacted Neanderthals, as warming periods would produce more favourable temperatures but encourage forest growth and deter megafauna, whereas frigid periods would produce the opposite. However, Neanderthals may have preferred a forested landscape. Populations may have peaked in cold but not extreme intervals, such as marine isotope stages 8 and 6 (respectively 300 and 191 thousand years ago during the Saale glaciation). It is possible their range expanded and contracted as the ice retreated and grew respectively to avoid
permafrost
Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
areas, residing in certain refuge zones during glacial maxima. In 2021, Israeli anthropologist Israel Hershkovitz and colleagues suggested the 140 to 120 thousand years old Israeli Nesher Ramla remains, which feature a mix of Neanderthal and more ancient ''
H. erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' traits, represent one such source population which recolonised Europe following a glacial period.
Population
Like modern humans, Neanderthals probably descended from a very small population with an
effective population
The effective population size (''N'e'') is a number that, in some simplified scenarios, corresponds to the number of breeding individuals in the population. More generally, ''N'e'' is the number of individuals that an idealised population wo ...
—the number of individuals who can bear or father children—of 3,000 to 12,000 approximately. However, Neanderthals maintained this very low population, proliferating weakly harmful genes due to the reduced effectivity of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
.
Various studies, using
mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
analysis, yield varying effective populations, such as about 1,000 to 5,000; 5,000 to 9,000 remaining constant; or 3,000 to 25,000 steadily increasing until 52,000 years ago before declining until extinction. Archaeological evidence suggests that there was a tenfold increase in the modern human population in Western Europe during the period of the Neanderthal/modern human transition, and Neanderthals may have been at a demographic disadvantage due to a lower fertility rate, a higher infant mortality rate, or a combination of the two. Estimates giving a total population in the higher tens of thousands are contested. A consistently low population may be explained in the context of the " Boserupian Trap": a population's
carrying capacity
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as t ...
is limited by the amount of food it can obtain, which in turn is limited by its technology. Innovation increases with population, but if the population is too low, innovation will not occur very rapidly and the population will remain low. This is consistent with the apparent 150,000 year stagnation in Neanderthal lithic technology.
In a sample of 206 Neanderthals, based on the abundance of young and mature adults in comparison to other age demographics, about 80% of them above the age of 20 died before reaching 40. This high mortality rate was probably due to their high-stress environment. However, it has also been estimated that the
age pyramid
A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...
s for Neanderthals and contemporary modern humans were the same. Infant mortality was estimated to have been very high for Neanderthals, about 43% in northern Eurasia.
Anatomy
Build
Neanderthals had more
robust
Robustness is the property of being strong and healthy in constitution. When it is transposed into a system, it refers to the ability of tolerating perturbations that might affect the system’s functional body. In the same line ''robustness'' ca ...
and stockier builds than typical modern humans, wider and barrel-shaped rib cages; wider pelvises; and proportionally shorter forearms and forelegs.
Based on 45 Neanderthal
long bone
The long bones are those that are longer than they are wide. They are one of five types of bones: long, Short bone, short, Flat bone, flat, Irregular bone, irregular and Sesamoid bone, sesamoid. Long bones, especially the femur and tibia, are subj ...
s from 14 men and 7 women, the average height was for males and for females. For comparison, the average height of 28 males and 10 females Upper Palaeolithic humans is respectively and , although this decreases by nearer the end of the period based on 21 males and 15 females; and the average in the year 1900 was and , respectively. The fossil record shows that adult Neanderthals varied from about in height, although some may have grown much taller (73.8 to 184.8 cm based on footprint length and from 65.8 to 189.3 cm based on footprint width). For Neanderthal weight, samples of 26 specimens found an average of for males and for females. Using , the
body mass index
Body mass index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and he ...
for Neanderthal males was calculated to be 26.9–28.2, which in modern humans correlates to being
overweight
Being overweight or fat is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary.
, excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with mo ...
. This indicates a very robust build. The Neanderthal
LEPR
Leptin receptor, also known as LEP-R or OB-R, is a type I cytokine receptor, a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''LEPR'' gene. LEP-R functions as a receptor for the fat cell-specific hormone leptin. LEP-R has also been designated as CD295 ...
gene concerned with storing fat and body heat production is similar to that of the
woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...
, and so was likely an adaptation for cold climate.
The
neck vertebra
In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In ...
e of Neanderthals are longer and thicker than those of (most) modern humans, leading to stability, possibly due to different head shape and size. Although the Neanderthal
thorax
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...
(where the
ribcage
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
is) was similar in size to modern humans, the longer and straighter ribs would have equated to a widened mid-lower thorax and stronger breathing in the lower thorax, which are indicative of a larger diaphragm and possibly greater
lung capacity
Lung volumes and lung capacities refer to the volume of air in the lungs at different phases of the respiratory cycle.
The average total lung capacity of an adult human male is about 6 litres of air.
Tidal breathing is normal, resting breathin ...
. The lung capacity of
Kebara 2
Kebara 2 (or Kebara Mousterian Hominid 2, KMH2) is a 60,000 year-old Levantine Neanderthal mid-body male skeleton. It was discovered in 1983 by Ofer Bar-Yosef, Baruch Arensburg, and Bernard Vandermeersch in a Mousterian layer of Kebara Cave, Isr ...
was estimated to have been , compared to the average human capacity of for males and for females. The Neanderthal chest was also more pronounced (expanded front-to-back, or antero-posteriorly). The
sacrum
The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30.
The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...
(where the
pelvis
The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton).
The ...
connects to the spine) was more vertically inclined, and was placed lower in relation to the pelvis, causing the spine to be less curved (exhibit less
lordosis
Lordosis is historically defined as an ''abnormal'' inward curvature of the lumbar spine. However, the terms ''lordosis'' and ''lordotic'' are also used to refer to the normal inward curvature of the lumbar and cervical regions of the human spi ...
) and to fold in on itself somewhat (to be invaginated). In modern populations, this condition affects just a proportion of the population, and is known as a lumbarized sacrum. Such modifications to the spine would have enhanced side-to-side (mediolateral)
flexion
Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative ...
, better supporting the wider lower thorax. It is claimed by some that this feature would be normal for all ''Homo'', even tropically-adapted ''Homo ergaster'' or ''erectus'', with the condition of a narrower thorax in most modern humans being a unique characteristic.
Body proportions are usually cited as being "hyperarctic" as adaptations to the cold, because they are similar to those of human populations which developed in cold climates—the Neanderthal build is most similar to that of
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
and
Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (russian: Юиты), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alask ...
s among modern humans—and shorter limbs result in higher retention of body heat. Nonetheless, Neanderthals from more temperate climates—such as Iberia—still retain the "hyperarctic" physique. In 2019, English anthropologist John Stewart and colleagues suggested Neanderthals instead were adapted for sprinting, because of evidence of Neanderthals preferring more warmer wooded areas over the colder
mammoth steppe
During the Last Glacial Maximum, the mammoth steppe, also known as steppe-tundra, was the Earth's most extensive biome. It spanned from Spain eastward across Eurasia to Canada and from the List of islands in the Arctic Ocean, arctic islands sout ...
, and DNA analysis indicating a higher proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibres in Neanderthals than in modern humans. He explained their body proportions and greater muscle mass as adaptations to sprinting as opposed to the endurance-oriented modern human physique, as
persistence hunting
Persistence hunting is pursuit until the prey can no longer flee and succumbs to exhaustion or heat stroke.
History and definition
Some researchers have insisted that the point of persistence hunting is not to induce exhaustion but specific ...
may only be effective in hot climates where the hunter can run prey to the point of heat exhaustion (
hyperthermia
Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme ...
). They had longer
heel bone
In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock.
St ...
s, reducing their ability for endurance running, and their shorter limbs would have reduced
moment arm
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
at the limbs, allowing for greater
rotational force
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of the ...
at the wrists and ankles without extra exertion of the rotating muscles at the elbows and knees by increasing the speed at which the muscles contracted, causing faster acceleration. In 1981, American palaeoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus made note of this alternate explanation, but considered it less likely.
Face
Neanderthals had a staightened chin, sloping forehead, and projecting nose, which also started somewhat higher on the face than in most modern humans. The Neanderthal skull is typically more elongated and less globular than that of most modern humans, and features much more of an
occipital bun
The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cereb ...
, or "chignon", a protrusion on the back of the skull, although it is within the range of variation for humans who have it. It is caused by the cranial base and
temporal bone
The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex.
The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. Th ...
s being placed higher and more towards the front of the skull, and a flatter
skullcap
Skullcap or skull cap usually refers to various types of headgear. Specifically it may refer to:
Headwear
* Beanie (seamed cap)
* Biretta, forming part of some clerical, academic or legal dress
* Calotte (Belgium), a skullcap worn by students at ...
. They also had larger eyes likely to adapt to the low-light environment.
The projected Neanderthal nose and
paranasal sinus
Paranasal sinuses are a group of four paired air-filled spaces that surround the nasal cavity. The maxillary sinuses are located under the eyes; the frontal sinuses are above the eyes; the ethmoidal sinuses are between the eyes and the sphenoid ...
es have generally been explained as having warmed air as it entered the lungs and retained moisture ("nasal radiator" hypothesis); If their noses were wider, it would differ to the generally narrowed shape in cold-adapted creatures, and that it would have been caused instead by
genetic drift
Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance.
Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...
. Also, the sinuses reconstructed wide are not grossly large, being comparable in size to those of modern humans. However, if sinus size is not an important factor for breathing cold air, then the actual function would be unclear, so they may not be a good indicator of evolutionary pressures to evolve such a nose. Further, a computer reconstruction of the Neanderthal nose and predicted soft tissue patterns shows some similarities to those of modern Arctic peoples, potentially meaning the noses of both populations convergently evolved for breathing cold, dry air.
Neanderthals featured a rather large jaw which was once cited as a response to a large
bite force
Bite force quotient (BFQ) is a numerical value commonly used to represent the bite force of an animal, while also taking factors like the animal's size into account.
The BFQ is calculated as the regression of the quotient
In arithmetic, a ...
evidenced by heavy wearing of Neanderthal front teeth (the "anterior dental loading" hypothesis), but similar wearing trends are seen in contemporary humans. It could also have evolved to fit larger teeth in the jaw, which would better resist wear and abrasion, and the increased wear on the front teeth compared to the back teeth probably stems from repetitive use. Neanderthal dental wear patterns are most similar to those of modern Inuit. The incisors are large and shovel-shaped, and, compared to modern humans, there was an unusually high frequency of
taurodontism
Taurodontism is defined as the enlargement of pulp chambers with the furcation area being displaced toward the apex of the root. It cannot be diagnosed clinically and requires radiographic visualization since the crown of a taurodontic tooth ap ...
, a condition where the
molars
The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...
are bulkier due to an enlarged
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
(tooth core). Taurodontism was once thought to have been a distinguishing characteristic of Neanderthals which lent some mechanical advantage or stemmed from repetitive use, but was more likely simply a product of genetic drift. The bite force of Neanderthals and modern humans is now thought to be about the same, about and in modern human males and females, respectively.
Brain
The Neanderthal braincase averages 1,640 cc for males and 1,460 cc for females, which is significantly larger than the averages for all groups of extant humans; for example, modern European males average and females . For 28 modern human specimens from 190 to 25 thousand years ago, the average was about disregarding sex, and modern human brain size is suggested to have decreased since the Upper Palaeolithic. The largest Neanderthal brain,
Amud 1
Amud 1 is a nearly complete but poorly preserved adult Southwest Asian Neanderthal skeleton thought to be about 55,000 years old. It was discovered at Amud in Israel by Hisashi Suzuki in July 1961, who described it as male. With an estimated h ...
, was calculated to be , one of the largest ever recorded in hominids. Both Neanderthal and human infants measure about .
The Neanderthal skull is distinctively elongated, a characteristic shape known as "en bombe," with smaller parietal lobes and a smaller
cerebellum
The cerebellum (Latin for "little brain") is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as or even larger. In humans, the cerebel ...
, areas implicated in tool use, visuospatial integration, numeracy, creativity, higher-order conceptualization,
muscle memory
Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, the brain creates a long-te ...
, and possibly language, attention,
working memory
Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...
, social abilities, and
episodic memory
Episodic memory is the memory of everyday events (such as times, location geography, associated emotions, and other contextual information) that can be explicitly stated or conjured. It is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred ...
. Neanderthal brains also have larger
occipital lobe
The occipital lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The name derives from its position at the back of the head, from the Latin ''ob'', "behind", and ''caput'', "head".
The occipital lobe is the vi ...
s (relating to the classic occurrence of an
occipital bun
The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cereb ...
in Neanderthal skull anatomy), likely an adaptation to lower light conditions in Europe that implies internal differences in the proportionality of brain-internal regions, relative to ''Homo sapiens,'' consistent with external measurements obtained with fossil skulls. Their brains also have larger temporal lobe poles, wider orbitofrontal cortex, and larger olfactory bulbs, suggesting potential differences in language comprehension and associations with emotions ( temporal functions), decision making (the
orbitofrontal cortex
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes of the brain which is involved in the cognitive process of decision-making. In non-human primates it consists of the association cortex areas Brodmann area 11, 12 ...
), and sense of smell (
olfactory bulbs
The olfactory bulb (Latin: ''bulbus olfactorius'') is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (O ...
). Their brains also show different rates of brain growth and development. Such differences, while slight, would have been visible to natural selection and may underlie and explain differences in the material record in things like social behaviors, technological innovation, and artistic output.
Hair and skin colour
The lack of sunlight most likely led to the proliferation of lighter skin in Neanderthals, although it has been recently claimed that light skin in modern Europeans was not particularly prolific until perhaps the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. Genetically,
BNC2
Zinc finger protein basonuclin-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''BNC2'' gene.
BCN2 has recently been shown to influence skin pigmentation levels in Europeans. Genomic region spanning the BCN2 gene has 60% Neanderthal DNA sequence.
...
was present in Neanderthals, which is associated with light skin colour; however, a second variation of BNC2 was also present, which in modern populations is associated with darker skin colour in the
UK Biobank
UK Biobank is a large long-term biobank study in the United Kingdom (UK) which is investigating the respective contributions of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure (including nutrition, lifestyle, medications etc.) to the developmen ...
. DNA analysis of three Neanderthal females from southeastern Europe indicates that they had brown eyes, dark skin color, and brown hair; with one having red hair. "According to this method, all three Neandertals had a dark complexion and brown eyes, and although one was red-haired, two sported brown locks"
In modern humans, skin and hair colour is regulated by the
melanocyte-stimulating hormone
The melanocyte-stimulating hormones, known collectively as MSH, also known as melanotropins or intermedins, are a family of peptide hormones and neuropeptides consisting of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH), β-melanocyte-stimulating h ...
—which increases the proportion of
eumelanin
Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amin ...
(black pigment) to
phaeomelanin
Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amino ...
(red pigment)—which is encoded by the MC1R gene. There are five known variants in modern humans of the gene which cause loss-of-function and are associated with light skin and hair colour, and another unknown variant in Neanderthals (the R307G variant) which could be associated with pale skin and red hair. The R307G variant was identified in a Neanderthal from
Monti Lessini Monti may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Monti (given name)
* Monti (surname)
Places
*Monti, Lazio, the first rione (historic district) of Rome, Italy
*Monti, Sardinia, Italy, a ''comune'' and town
*Monti, Iowa, United States, a town
See also
*Monte ...
, Italy, and possibly Cueva del Sidrón, Spain. However, as in modern humans, red was probably not a very common hair colour because the variant is not present in many other sequenced Neanderthals.
Metabolism
Maximum natural lifespan and the timing of adulthood,
menopause
Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...
, and
gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
were most likely very similar to modern humans. However, it has been hypothesised, based on the growth rates of teeth and
tooth enamel
Tooth enamel is one of the four major Tissue (biology), tissues that make up the tooth in humans and many other animals, including some species of fish. It makes up the normally visible part of the tooth, covering the Crown (tooth), crown. The ...
, that Neanderthals matured faster than modern humans although this is not backed up by age
biomarker
In biomedical contexts, a biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated using blood, urine, or soft tissues to examine normal biological processes, ...
s. The main differences in maturation are the
atlas bone
In anatomy, the atlas (C1) is the most superior (first) cervical vertebra of the spine and is located in the neck. It is named for Atlas of Greek mythology because, just as Atlas supported the globe, it supports the entire head.
The atlas is ...
in the neck as well as the middle thoracic vertebrae fused about 2 years later in Neanderthals than in modern humans, but this was more likely caused by a difference in anatomy rather than growth rate.
Generally, models on Neanderthal caloric requirements report significantly higher intakes than those of modern humans because they typically assume Neanderthals had higher
basal metabolic rate
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of food energy, energy expenditure per unit time by endotherm, endothermic animals at rest. It is reported in energy units per unit time ranging from watt (joule/second) to ml O2/min or joule per hour per kg b ...
s (BMRs) due to higher muscle mass, faster growth rate, and greater body heat production against the cold; and higher daily
physical activity level
The physical activity level (PAL) is a way to express a person's daily physical activity as a number, and is used to estimate a person's total energy expenditure. In combination with the basal metabolic rate, it can be used to compute the amount o ...
s (PALs) due to greater daily travelling distances while foraging. However, using a high BMR and PAL, American archaeologist Bryan Hockett estimated that a pregnant Neanderthal would have consumed 5,500 calories per day, which would have necessitated a heavy reliance on big game meat; such a diet would have caused numerous deficiencies or nutrient poisonings, so he concluded that these are poorly warranted assumptions to make.
Neanderthals may have been more active during dimmer light conditions rather than broad daylight because they lived in regions with reduced daytime hours, hunted large game (such predators typically hunt at night to enhance ambush tactics), and had large eyes and visual processing neural centres. Genetically, colour blindness (which may enhance
mesopic vision
Mesopic vision, sometimes also called twilight vision, is a combination of photopic and scotopic vision under low-light (but not necessarily dark) conditions. Mesopic levels range approximately from 0.01 to 3.0 cd/m2 in luminance. Most nigh ...
) is typically correlated with northern-latitude populations, and the Neanderthals from Vindija Cave, Croatia, had some substitutions in the
Opsin
Animal opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors and a group of proteins made light-sensitive via a chromophore, typically retinal. When bound to retinal, opsins become Retinylidene proteins, but are usually still called opsins regardless. Most pro ...
genes which could have influenced colour vision. However, the functional implications of these substitutions are inconclusive. Neanderthal-derived alleles near ASB1 and
EXOC6
Exocyst complex component 6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EXOC6 gene.
Function
The protein encoded by this gene is highly similar to the ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' SEC15 gene product, which is essential for vesicular traffic ...
are associated with being an
evening person
A night owl, evening person or simply owl, is a person who tends to stay up until late at night, or to the very early hours of the morning. Night owls who are involuntarily unable to fall asleep for several hours after a normal time may have de ...
,
narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a long-term neurological disorder that involves a decreased ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles. Symptoms often include periods of excessive daytime sleepiness and brief involuntary sleep episodes. About 70% of those affec ...
, and day-time napping.
Pathology
Neanderthals suffered a high rate of traumatic injury, with an estimated 79–94% of specimens showing evidence of healed major trauma, of which 37–52% were severely injured, and 13–19% injured before reaching adulthood. One extreme example is Shanidar 1, who shows signs of an
amputation
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...
of the right arm likely due to a
nonunion
Nonunion is permanent failure of healing following a broken bone unless intervention (such as surgery) is performed. A fracture with nonunion generally forms a structural resemblance to a fibrous joint, and is therefore often called a "false joi ...
after breaking a bone in adolescence,
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...
(a bone infection) on the left
clavicle
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...
, an abnormal
gait
Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Di ...
, vision problems in the left eye, and possible hearing loss (perhaps
swimmer's ear
Otitis externa, also called swimmer's ear, is inflammation of the ear canal. It often presents with ear pain, swelling of the ear canal, and occasionally decreased hearing. Typically there is pain with movement of the outer ear. A high fever is ...
). In 1995, Trinkaus estimated that about 80% succumbed to their injuries and died before reaching 40, and thus theorised that Neanderthals employed a risky hunting strategy ("rodeo rider" hypothesis). However, rates of cranial trauma are not significantly different between Neanderthals and Middle Palaeolithic modern humans (although Neanderthals seem to have had a higher mortality risk), there are few specimens of both Upper Palaeolithic modern humans and Neanderthals who died after the age of 40, and there are overall similar injury patterns between them. In 2012, Trinkaus concluded that Neanderthals instead injured themselves in the same way as contemporary humans, such as by interpersonal violence. A 2016 study looking at 124 Neanderthal specimens argued that high trauma rates were instead caused by
animal attack
Animal attacks are violent attacks caused by non-human animals against humans, one of the most common being bites. These attacks are a cause of human injuries and fatalities worldwide. According to the ''2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics ...
s, and found that about 36% of the sample were victims of
bear attack
A bear attack is an attack by a bear on another animal, although it usually refers to a bear attacking a human or domestic pet such as a dog. Bear attacks are of particular concern for those who are in bear habitats. They can be fatal and often hi ...
s, 21% big cat attacks, and 17%
wolf attack
Wolf attacks are injuries to humans or their property by any subspecies of wolf. Their frequency varies with geographical location and historical period, but overall gray wolf attacks are rare. Wolves today tend to live mostly far from people ...
s (totalling 92 positive cases, 74%). There were no cases of hyaena attacks, although hyaenas still nonetheless probably attacked Neanderthals, at least opportunistically. Such intense predation probably stemmed from common confrontations due to competition over food and cave space, and from Neanderthals hunting these carnivores.
Low population caused a low
genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...
and probably inbreeding, which reduced the population's ability to filter out harmful mutations (
inbreeding depression
Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness which has the potential to result from inbreeding (the breeding of related individuals). Biological fitness refers to an organism's ability to survive and perpetuate its genetic material. In ...
). However, it is unknown how this affected a single Neanderthal's genetic burden and, thus, if this caused a higher rate of
birth defect
A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...
s than in modern humans. It is known, however, that the 13 inhabitants of Sidrón Cave collectively exhibited 17 different birth defects likely due to inbreeding or
recessive disorders
A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...
. Likely due to advanced age (60s or 70s), La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 had signs of
Baastrup's disease
Baastrup's sign is an orthopedic and radiographic disorder that often occurs in elderly humans. It is characterized by enlargement of the posterior spinous processes of the lumbar spine, with normal intervertebral disc height and neuroforamina. T ...
, affecting the spine, and osteoarthritis. Shanidar 1, who likely died at about 30 or 40, was diagnosed with the most ancient case of
diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a condition characterized by abnormal calcification/bone formation (hyperostosis) of the soft tissues surrounding the joints of the spine, and also of the peripheral or appendicular skeleton. In ...
(DISH), a degenerative disease which can restrict movement, which, if correct, would indicate a moderately high incident rate for older Neanderthals.
Neanderthals were subject to several infectious diseases and parasites. Modern humans likely transmitted diseases to them; one possible candidate is the stomach bacteria ''
Helicobacter pylori
''Helicobacter pylori'', previously known as ''Campylobacter pylori'', is a gram-negative, microaerophilic, spiral (helical) bacterium usually found in the stomach. Its helical shape (from which the genus name, helicobacter, derives) is though ...
''. The modern
human papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus infection (HPV infection) is caused by a DNA virus from the ''Papillomaviridae'' family. Many HPV infections cause no symptoms and 90% resolve spontaneously within two years. In some cases, an HPV infection persists and res ...
variant 16A may descend from Neanderthal introgression. A Neanderthal at Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, shows evidence of a gastrointestinal ''
Enterocytozoon bieneusi
''Enterocytozoon bieneusi'' is a species of the order Chytridiopsida (in the division Microsporidia) which infects the intestinal epithelial cells. It is an obligate intracellular parasite.
Microbiology
''Enterocytozoon bieneusi'', commonly k ...
'' infection. The leg bones of the French
La Ferrassie 1
La Ferrassie 1, often referred to as LF1, is a male Neanderthal skeleton estimated to be 70–50,000 years old. It was discovered at the La Ferrassie site in France by Louis Capitan and Denis Peyrony in 1909. The skull is the most complete Nea ...
feature lesions that are consistent with
periostitis
Periostitis, also known as periostalgia, is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the periosteum, a layer of connective tissue that surrounds bone. The condition is generally chronic, and is marked by tenderness and swelling of the bone an ...
—inflammation of the tissue enveloping the bone—likely a result of
hypertrophic osteoarthropathy
Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy is a medical condition combining clubbing and periostitis of the small hand joints, especially the distal interphalangeal joints and the metacarpophalangeal joints. Distal expansion of the long bones as well as pai ...
, which is primarily caused by a chest infection or
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
. Neanderthals had a lower
cavity
Cavity may refer to:
Biology and healthcare
*Body cavity, a fluid-filled space in many animals where organs typically develop
**Gastrovascular cavity, the primary organ of digestion and circulation in cnidarians and flatworms
*Dental cavity or too ...
rate than modern humans, despite some populations consuming typically cavity-causing foods in great quantity, which could indicate a lack of cavity-causing oral bacteria, namely ''
Streptococcus mutans
''Streptococcus mutans'' is a facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive coccus (round bacterium) commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay.
It is part of the " streptococci" (plural, non-italic lowercase ...
''.
Two 250,000-year-old Neanderthaloid children from Payré, France, present the earliest known cases of
lead exposure
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infe ...
of any hominin. They were exposed on two distinct occasions either by eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or inhaling lead-laced smoke from a fire. There are two lead mines within of the site.
Culture
Social structure
Group dynamics
Neanderthals likely lived in more sparsely distributed groups than contemporary modern humans, but group size is thought to have averaged 10 to 30 individuals, similar to modern hunter-gatherers. Reliable evidence of Neanderthal group composition comes from Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, and the footprints at Le Rozel, France: the former shows 7 adults, 3 adolescents, 2 juveniles, and an infant; whereas the latter, based on footprint size, shows a group of 10 to 13 members where juveniles and adolescents made up 90%.
A Neanderthal child's teeth analysed in 2018 showed it was weaned after 2.5 years, similar to modern hunter gatherers, and was born in the spring, which is consistent with modern humans and other mammals whose birth cycles coincide with environmental cycles. Indicated from various ailments resulting from high stress at a low age, such as
stunted growth
Stunted growth is a reduced growth rate in human development. It is a primary manifestation of malnutrition (or more precisely undernutrition) and recurrent infections, such as diarrhea and helminthiasis, in early childhood and even before birth, ...
, British archaeologist
Paul Pettitt
Paul Barry Pettitt, FSA is a British archaeologist and academic. He specialises in the Palaeolithic era, with particular focus on claims of art and burial practices of the Neanderthals and Pleistocene ''Homo sapiens'', and methods of determinin ...
hypothesised that children of both sexes were put to work directly after weaning; and Trinkaus said that, upon reaching adolescence, an individual may have been expected to join in hunting large and dangerous game. However, the bone trauma is comparable to modern Inuit, which could suggest a similar childhood between Neanderthals and contemporary modern humans. Further, such stunting may have also resulted from harsh winters and bouts of low food resources.
Sites showing evidence of no more than three individuals may have represented
nuclear families
A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...
or temporary camping sites for special task groups (such as a hunting party). Bands likely moved between certain caves depending on the season, indicated by remains of seasonal materials such as certain foods, and returned to the same locations generation after generation. Some sites may have been used for over 100 years.
Cave bear
The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...
s may have greatly competed with Neanderthals for cave space, and there is a decline in cave bear populations starting 50,000 years ago onwards (although their extinction occurred well after Neanderthals had died out). Although Neanderthals are generally considered to have been cave dwellers, with 'home base' being a cave, open-air settlements near contemporaneously inhabited cave systems in the Levant could indicate mobility between cave and open-air bases in this area. Evidence for long-term open-air settlements is known from the '
Ein Qashish
Tel Qashish, also spelled Tel Kashish (from the he, תל קשיש) or Tell el-Qassis in Arabic, is a tell, or archaeological mound, located in the northwestern section of the Jezreel Valley, on the north bank of the Kishon River. The ancient se ...
site in Israel, and Moldova I in Ukraine. Although Neanderthals appear to have had the ability to inhabit a range of environments—including plains and plateaux—open-air Neanderthals sites are generally interpreted as having been used as slaughtering and butchering grounds rather than living spaces.
In 2022, remains of the first-known Neanderthal family (six adults and five children) were excavated from Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia in Russia. The family, which included a father, a daughter, and what appear to be cousins, most likely died together, presumably from starvation.
Inter-group relations
Canadian ethnoarchaeologist Brian Hayden calculated a self-sustaining population that avoids inbreeding to consist of about 450–500 individuals, which would necessitate these bands to interact with 8–53 other bands, but more likely the larger estimate given low population density. Analysis of the mtDNA of the Neanderthals of Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, showed that the three adult men belonged to the same maternal lineage, while the three adult women belonged to different ones. This suggests a
patrilocal residence
In social anthropology, patrilocal residence or patrilocality, also known as virilocal residence or virilocality, are terms referring to the social system in which a married couple resides with or near the husband's parents. The concept of locat ...
(that a woman moved out of her group to live with her husband). However, the DNA of a Neanderthal from Denisova Cave, Russia, shows that she had an inbreeding coefficient of (her parents were either
half-sibling
A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child.
While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...
s with a common mother,
double first cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
s, an uncle and niece or aunt and nephew, or a grandfather and granddaughter or grandmother and grandson) and the inhabitants of Cueva del Sidrón show several defects, which may have been caused by inbreeding or recessive disorders.
Considering most Neanderthal artifacts were sourced no more than from the main settlement, Hayden considered it unlikely these bands interacted very often, and mapping of the Neanderthal brain and their small group size and population density could indicate that they had a reduced ability for inter-group interaction and trade. However, a few Neanderthal artefacts in a settlement could have originated 20, 30, 100, and 300 km (12.5, 18.5, 60, and 185 mi) away. Based on this, Hayden also speculated that macro-bands formed which functioned much like those of the low-density hunter-gatherer societies of the Western Desert of Australia. Macro-bands collectively encompass , with each band claiming , maintaining strong alliances for mating networks or to cope with leaner times and enemies. Similarly, British anthropologist Eiluned Pearce and Cypriot archaeologist Theodora Moutsiou speculated that Neanderthals were possibly capable of forming geographically expansive ethnolinguistic tribes encompassing upwards of 800 people, based on the transport of
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
up to from the source compared to trends seen in obsidian transfer distance and tribe size in modern hunter-gatherers. However, according to their model Neanderthals would not have been as efficient at maintaining long-distance networks as modern humans, probably due to a significantly lower population. Hayden noted an apparent cemetery of six or seven individuals at
La Ferrassie
La Ferrassie is an archaeological site in Savignac-de-Miremont, in the Dordogne department, France. The site, located in the Vézère valley, consists of a large and deep cave flanked by two rock shelters within a limestone cliff, under which ...
, France, which, in modern humans, is typically used as evidence of a
corporate group
A corporate group or group of companies is a collection of parent and subsidiary corporations that function as a single economic entity through a common source of control. These types of groups are often managed by an account manager. The concep ...
which maintained a distinct social identity and controlled some resource, trading, manufacturing, and so on. La Ferrassie is also located in one of the richest animal-migration routes of Pleistocene Europe.
Genetic analysis indicates there were at least 3 distinct geographical groups—Western Europe, the Mediterranean coast, and east of the Caucasus—with some migration among these regions. Post-Eemian Western European
Mousterian
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
lithics
Lithic may refer to:
*Relating to stone tools
**Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts
**Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it
**Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed to ...
can also be broadly grouped into 3 distinct macro-regions: Acheulean-tradition Mousterian in the southwest,
Micoquien
The Micoquien is an early middle paleolithic industry, that is found in the Eemian and in an early episode of the Würm glaciation (about 130,000 to 60,000 BCE). The Micoquien is distinguished technologically by the appearance of distinctly as ...
in the northeast, and Mousterian with bifacial tools (MBT) in between the former two. MBT may actually represent the interactions and fusion of the two different cultures. Southern Neanderthals exhibit regional anatomical differences from northern counterparts: a less protrusive jaw, a shorter gap behind the molars, and a vertically higher jawbone. These all instead suggest Neanderthal communities regularly interacted with neighbouring communities within a region, but not as often beyond.
Nonetheless, over long periods of time, there is evidence of large-scale cross-continental migration. Early specimens from
Mezmaiskaya Cave
Mezmaiskaya Cave (russian: Мезмайская пещера) is a prehistoric cave site overlooking the right bank of the Sukhoi Kurdzhips (a tributary of the Kurdzhips River) in the southern Russian Republic of Adygea, located in the northwest ...
in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
and
Denisova Cave
Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
in the Siberian Altai Mountains differ genetically from those found in Western Europe, whereas later specimens from these caves both have genetic profiles more similar to Western European Neanderthal specimens than to the earlier specimens from the same locations, suggesting long-range migration and population replacement over time. Similarly, artefacts and DNA from Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves, also in the Altai Mountains, resemble those of eastern European Neanderthal sites about away more than they do artefacts and DNA of the older Neanderthals from Denisova Cave, suggesting two distinct migration events into Siberia. Neanderthals seem to have suffered a major population decline during MIS 4 (71–57 thousand years ago), and the distribution of the Micoquian tradition could indicate that Central Europe and the Caucasus were repopulated by communities from a refuge zone either in eastern France or Hungary (the fringes of the Micoquian tradition) who dispersed along the rivers
Prut
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
and
Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
.
There is also evidence of inter-group conflict: a skeleton from La Roche à Pierrot, France, showing a healed fracture on top of the skull apparently caused by a deep blade wound, and another from Shanadir Cave, Iraq, found to have a rib lesion characteristic of projectile weapon injuries.
Social hierarchy
It is sometimes suggested, since they were hunters of challenging big game and lived in small groups, there was no sexual division of labour as seen in modern hunter-gatherer societies. That is, men, women, and children all had to be involved in hunting, instead of men hunting with women and children foraging. However, with modern hunter-gatherers, the higher the meat dependency, the higher the division of labour. Further, tooth-wearing patterns in Neanderthal men and women suggest they commonly used their teeth for carrying items, but men exhibit more wearing on the upper teeth, and women the lower, suggesting some cultural differences in tasks.
It is controversially proposed that some Neanderthals wore decorative clothing or jewellery—such as a leopard skin or
raptor
Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to:
Animals
The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons.
* Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...
feathers—to display elevated status in the group. Hayden postulated that the small number of Neanderthal graves found was because only high-ranking members would receive an elaborate burial, as is the case for some modern hunter-gatherers. Trinkaus suggested that elderly Neanderthals were given special burial rites for lasting so long given the high mortality rates. Alternatively, many more Neanderthals may have received burials, but the graves were infiltrated and destroyed by bears. Given that 20 graves of Neanderthals aged under 4 have been found—over a third of all known graves—deceased children may have received greater care during burial than other age demographics.
Looking at Neanderthal skeletons recovered from several natural rock shelters, Trinkaus said that, although Neanderthals were recorded as bearing several trauma-related injuries, none of them had significant trauma to the legs that would debilitate movement. He suggested that
self worth
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
in Neanderthal culture derived from contributing food to the group; a debilitating injury would remove this self-worth and result in near-immediate death, and individuals who could not keep up with the group while moving from cave to cave were left behind. However, there are examples of individuals with highly debilitating injuries being nursed for several years, and caring for the most vulnerable within the community dates even further back to ''H. heidelbergensis''. Especially given the high trauma rates, it is possible that such an altruistic strategy ensured their survival as a species for so long.
Food
Hunting and gathering
Neanderthals were once thought of as
scavenger
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
s, but are now considered to have been
apex predator
An apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own.
Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic lev ...
s. In 1980, it was hypothesised that two piles of mammoth skulls at
La Cotte de St Brelade
La Cotte de St Brelade is a Paleolithic site of early habitation in Saint Brélade, Jersey. ''Cotte'' means "cave" in Jèrriais. The cave is also known as ''Lé Creux ès Fées'' (The Fairies' Cave).
Neanderthals lived there at various time ...
, Jersey, at the base of a gulley were evidence of mammoth drive hunting (causing them to stampede off a ledge), but this is contested. Living in a forested environment, Neanderthals were likely ambush hunters, getting close to and attacking their target—a prime adult—in a short burst of speed, thrusting in a spear at close quarters. Younger or wounded animals may have been hunted using traps, projectiles, or pursuit. Nonetheless, they were able to adapt to a variety of habitats. They appear to have eaten predominantly what was abundant within their immediate surroundings, with steppe-dwelling communities (generally outside of the Mediterranean) subsisting almost entirely on meat from large game, forest-dwelling communities consuming a wide array of plants and smaller animals, and waterside communities gathering aquatic resources. Contemporary humans, in contrast, seem to have used more complex food extraction strategies and generally had a more diverse diet. Nonetheless, Neanderthals still would have had to have eaten a varied enough diet to prevent
nutrient deficiencies
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...
and
protein poisoning
Protein poisoning (also referred to colloquially as rabbit starvation, ''mal de caribou'', or fat starvation) is an acute form of malnutrition caused by a diet deficient in fat and carbohydrates, where almost all calories consumed come from the ...
, especially in the winter when they presumably ate mostly lean meat. Any food with high contents of other essential nutrients not provided by lean meat would have been vital components of their diet, such as fat-rich brains, carbohydrate-rich and abundant underground
storage organ
A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy
(generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...
s (including roots and tubers), or, like modern Inuit, the stomach contents of herbivorous prey items.
For meat, they appear to have fed predominantly on
hoofed mammals
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...
, namely
red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
and
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
as these two were the most abundant game, but also on other
Pleistocene megafauna
Pleistocene megafauna is the set of large animals that lived on Earth during the Pleistocene epoch. Pleistocene megafauna became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event resulting in substantial changes to ecosystems globally. The role of hu ...
such as
ibex
An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...
,
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
,
aurochs
The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...
, mammoth,
straight-tusked elephant
The straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–30,000 years before present). Recovered individuals have reac ...
,
woolly rhinoceros
The woolly rhinoceros (''Coelodonta antiquitatis'') is an extinct species of rhinoceros that was common throughout Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived until the end of the last glacial period. The woolly rhinoceros was a me ...
, and so on. There is evidence of directed cave and
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
hunting both in and out of
hibernation
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
, as well as butchering. Analysis of Neanderthal bone
collagen
Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whole ...
from Vindija Cave, Croatia, shows nearly all of their protein needs derived from animal meat. Some caves show evidence of regular rabbit and tortoise consumption. At Gibraltar sites, there are remains of 143 different bird species, many ground-dwelling such as the common quail,
corn crake
The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- ...
,
woodlark
The woodlark or wood lark (''Lullula arborea'') is the only extant species in the lark genus ''Lullula''. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non- migratory) ...
, and
crested lark
The crested lark (''Galerida cristata'') is a species of lark widespread across Eurasia and northern Africa. It is a non-migratory bird, but can occasionally be found as a vagrant in Great Britain.
Taxonomy and systematics
The crested lark was ...
. Neanderthals also exploited marine resources on the Iberian, Italian, and
Peloponnesian
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
Peninsulas, where they waded or dived for
shellfish
Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...
, as early as 150,000 years ago at Cueva Bajondillo, Spain, similar to the fishing record of modern humans. At
Vanguard Cave
Vanguard Cave is a natural sea cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar which is part of the Gorham's Cave complex. This complex of four caves has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2016. The cave complex is one ...
, Gibraltar, the inhabitants consumed
Mediterranean monk seal
The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...
,
short-beaked common dolphin
The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, with ...
,
common bottlenose dolphin
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') is a wide-ranging marine mammal of the family Delphinidae. The common bottlenose dolphin is a very familiar dolphin due to the wide exposure it gets in captivi ...
,
Atlantic bluefin tuna
The Atlantic bluefin tuna (''Thunnus thynnus'') is a species of tuna in the family Scombridae. It is variously known as the northern bluefin tuna (mainly when including Pacific bluefin as a subspecies), giant bluefin tuna or individuals exceed ...
,
sea bream
The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a ...
, and
purple sea urchin
''Strongylocentrotus purpuratus'', the purple sea urchin, lives along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean extending from Ensenada, Mexico, to British Columbia, Canada. This sea urchin species is deep purple in color, and lives in lower in ...
; and at Gruta da Figueira Brava, Portugal, there is evidence of large-scale harvest of shellfish,
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...
s, and fish. Evidence of freshwater fishing was found in Grotte di Castelcivita, Italy, for
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
; Abri du Maras, France, for chub and
European perch
The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...
; Payré, France; and Kudaro Cave, Russia, for
Black Sea salmon
The Black Sea salmon (''Salmo labrax'') is a fairly small species of salmon, at about long on average and rarely reaching over . It inhabits the northern Black Sea coasts and inflowing rivers. There are anadromous, lacustrine and resident river ...
.
Edible plant and mushroom remains are recorded from several caves. Neanderthals from Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, based on dental tartar, likely had a meatless diet of mushrooms, pine nuts, and moss, indicating they were forest foragers. Remnants from
Amud Cave
Amud Cave is located in the Upper Galilee, in the Nahal Amud gorge. It is situated about above Nahal Amud, right next to and above the famous pillar (amud, in Hebrew) for which Nahal Amud is named. The cave was excavated by a Japanese expediti ...
, Israel, indicates a diet of figs, palm tree fruits, and various
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
s and edible grasses. Several bone traumas in the leg joints could possibly suggest habitual squatting, which, if the case, was likely done while gathering food. Dental tartar from
Grotte de Spy
Spy Cave (french: Grotte de Spy) is located in Wallonia near Spy in the municipality of Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Namur Province, Belgium above the left bank of the Orneau River. Classified as a premier Heritage site of the Walloon Region, the location ...
, Belgium, indicates the inhabitants had a meat-heavy diet including woolly rhinoceros and
mouflon
The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian Sea, Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds.
Taxonomy
''Ovis gmelini'' ...
sheep, while also regularly consuming mushrooms. Neanderthal faecal matter from
El Salt
El Salt is an archaeological site from the Middle Paleolithic near Alcoy, in the Spanish Province of Alicante, which was frequented by groups of archaic humans for thousands of years. Scientists have found evidence of Neanderthal settlements, in ...
, Spain, dated to 50,000 years ago—the oldest human faecal matter remains recorded—show a diet mainly of meat but with a significant component of plants. Evidence of cooked plant foods—mainly
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
s and, to a far lesser extent, acorns—was discovered in
Kebara Cave
Kebara Cave ( he, מערת כבארה, Me'arat Kebbara, ar, مغارة الكبارة, Mugharat al-Kabara) is a limestone cave locality in Wadi Kebara, situated at above mean sea level, above sea level on the western escarpment of the Mount Car ...
, Israel, with its inhabitants possibly gathering plants in spring and fall and hunting in all seasons except fall, although the cave was probably abandoned in late summer to early fall. At Shanidar Cave, Iraq, Neanderthals collected plants with various harvest seasons, indicating they scheduled returns to the area to harvest certain plants, and that they had complex food-gathering behaviours for both meat and plants.
Food preparation
Neanderthals probably could employ a wide range of cooking techniques, such as
roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelization ...
, and they may have been able to heat up or boil soup, stew, or animal
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
. The abundance of animal bone fragments at settlements may indicate the making of fat stocks from boiling
bone marrow
Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...
, possibly taken from animals that had already died of starvation. These methods would have substantially increased fat consumption, which was a major nutritional requirement of communities with low carbohydrate and high protein intake. Neanderthal tooth size had a decreasing trend after 100,000 years ago, which could indicate an increased dependence on cooking or the advent of boiling, a technique that would have softened food.
At Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, Neanderthals likely cooked and possibly smoked food, as well as used certain plants—such as
yarrow
''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal.
The ...
and
camomile
Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, ''Matricaria recutita'' and ''Anthemis nobilis'', are commonly us ...
—as flavouring, although these plants may have instead been used for their medicinal properties. At
Gorham's Cave
Gorham's Cave ( es, Cueva de Gorham, ) is a sea-level cave in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Though not a sea cave, it is often mistaken for one. Considered to be one of the last known habitations of the Neanderthals in Europe, the ...
, Gibraltar, Neanderthals may have been roasting
pinecone
A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers an ...
s to access
pine nut
Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trade ...
s.
At Grotte du Lazaret, France, a total of 23 red deer, 6 ibexes, 3 aurochs, and 1
roe deer
The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
appear to have been hunted in a single autumn hunting season, when strong male and female deer herds would group together for rut. The entire carcasses seem to have been transported to the cave and then butchered. Because this is such a large amount of food to consume before spoilage, it is possible these Neanderthals were curing and preserving it before winter set in. At 160,000 years old, it is the oldest potential evidence of food storage. The great quantities of meat and fat which could have been gathered in general from typical prey items (namely mammoths) could also indicate food storage capability. With shellfish, Neanderthals needed to eat, cook, or in some manner preserve them soon after collection, as shellfish spoils very quickly. At Cueva de los Aviones, Spain, the remains of edible, algae eating shellfish associated with the alga '' Jania rubens'' could indicate that, like some modern hunter gatherer societies, harvested shellfish were held in water-soaked algae to keep them alive and fresh until consumption.
Competition
Competition from large
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
predators was rather high. Cave lions likely targeted horses, large deer and wild cattle; and
leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...
primarily
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
and roe deer; which heavily overlapped with Neanderthal diet. To defend a kill against such ferocious predators, Neanderthals may have engaged in a group display of yelling, arm waving, or stone throwing; or quickly gathered meat and abandoned the kill. However, at Grotte de Spy, Belgium, the remains of wolves, cave lions, and cave bears—which were all major predators of the time—indicate Neanderthals hunted their competitors to some extent.
Neanderthals and cave hyaenas may have exemplified
niche differentiation
In ecology, niche differentiation (also known as niche segregation, niche separation and niche partitioning) refers to the process by which competing species use the environment differently in a way that helps them to coexist. The competitive excl ...
, and actively avoided competing with each other. Although they both mainly targeted the same groups of creatures—deer, horses, and cattle—Neanderthals mainly hunted the former and cave hyaenas the latter two. Further, animal remains from Neanderthal caves indicate they preferred to hunt prime individuals, whereas cave hyaenas hunted weaker or younger prey, and cave hyaena caves have a higher abundance of carnivore remains. Nonetheless, there is evidence that cave hyaenas stole food and leftovers from Neanderthal campsites and scavenged on dead Neanderthal bodies.
Cannibalism
There are several instances of Neanderthals practising
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
across their range. The first example came from
Krapina
Krapina (; hu, Korpona) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region ...
, Croatia, in 1899, and other examples were found at Cueva del Sidrón and
Zafarraya
Zafarraya is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Granada, Spain, with a population of 2,200 (2003).
Zafarraya is known for a Neanderthal Human mandible, mandible found in a cave (Cueva del Boquete) in 1983 by Cecilio Barros ...
in Spain; and the French Grotte de Moula-Guercy, Les Pradelles, and La Quina. For the five cannibalised Neanderthals at the Grottes de Goyet, Belgium, there is evidence that the upper limbs were disarticulated, the lower limbs
defleshed
Defleshed is a Swedish death/thrash metal band. The group was formed by guitarist Lars Löfven, formerly of Convulsion and Inanimate. He was joined by ex-Crematorium bassist Gustaf Jorde shortly after recording a demo. In 1995 drummer Matte Mod ...
and also smashed (likely to extract bone marrow), the chest cavity
disemboweled
Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an acciden ...
, and the jaw dismembered. There is also evidence that the butchers used some bones to retouch their tools. The processing of Neanderthal meat at Grottes de Goyet is similar to how they processed horse and reindeer. About 35% of the Neanderthals at Marillac-le-Franc, France, show clear signs of butchery, and the presence of digested teeth indicates that the bodies were abandoned and eaten by scavengers, likely hyaenas.
These cannibalistic tendencies have been explained as either ritual defleshing, pre-burial defleshing (to prevent scavengers or foul smell), an act of war, or simply for food. Due to a small number of cases, and the higher number of cut marks seen on cannibalised individuals than animals (indicating inexperience), cannibalism was probably not a very common practice, and it may have only been done in times of extreme food shortages as in some cases in recorded human history.
Art
Personal adornment
Neanderthals used ochre, a
clay earth pigment
Earth pigments are naturally occurring minerals containing metal oxides, principally iron oxides and manganese oxides, that have been used since prehistoric times as pigments. The primary types are ochre, sienna and umber.
Earth pigments are kno ...
. Ochre is well-documented from 60 to 45 thousand years ago in Neanderthal sites, with the earliest example dating to 250–200 thousand years ago from Maastricht-Belvédère, the Netherlands (a similar timespan to the ochre record of ''H. sapiens''). It has been hypothesised to have functioned as body paint, and analyses of pigments from Pech de l’Azé, France, indicates they were applied to soft materials (such as a hide or human skin). However, modern hunter gatherers, in addition to body paint, also use ochre for medicine, for tanning hides, as a food preservative, and as an insect repellent, so its use as decorative paint for Neanderthals is speculative. Containers apparently used for mixing ochre pigments were found in Peștera Cioarei, Romania, which could indicate modification of ochre for solely aesthetic purposes.
Neanderthals collected uniquely shaped objects and are suggested to have modified them into pendants, such as a fossil ''
Aspa marginata
''Aspa marginata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Bursidae, the frog shells.
Description
Shells of ''Aspa marginata'' can reach a size of . These shells are quite thick, beige in color, with a smooth surface ...
'' sea snail shell possibly painted red from Grotta di Fumane, Italy, transported over to the site about 47,500 years ago; 3 shells, dated to about 120–115 thousand years ago, perforated through the umbo belonging to a rough cockle, a '' Glycymeris insubrica'', and a ''
Spondylus gaederopus
''Spondylus gaederopus'' is a species of marine bivalve mollusc, a thorny oyster in the family Spondylidae. This species is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.
Description
''Spondylus gaederopus'' attaches itself to the substrate with its lower ...
'' from Cueva de los Aviones, Spain, the former two associated with red and yellow pigments, and the latter a red-to-black mix of
hematite
Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...
and
pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
; and a king scallop shell with traces of an orange mix of
goethite
Goethite (, ) is a mineral of the diaspore group, consisting of iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, specifically the "α" polymorph. It is found in soil and other low-temperature environments such as sediment. Goethite has been well known since ancient t ...
and hematite from Cueva Antón, Spain. The discoverers of the latter two claim that pigment was applied to the exterior to make it match the naturally vibrant inside colouration. Excavated from 1949 to 1963 from the French
Grotte du Renne
The Grotte du Renne (French for "Reindeer's cave") is one of the many caves at Arcy-sur-Cure in France, an archaeological site of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic period in the Yonne departement, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It contains Châtelperronian ...
,
Châtelperronian
The Châtelperronian is a proposed industry of the Upper Palaeolithic, the existence of which is debated. It represents both the only Upper Palaeolithic industry made by Neanderthals and the earliest Upper Palaeolithic industry in central and sou ...
beads made from animal teeth, shells, and
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
were found associated with Neanderthal bones, but the dating is uncertain and Châtelperronian artefacts may actually have been crafted by modern humans and simply redeposited with Neanderthal remains.
Gibraltarian palaeoanthropologists
Clive
Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include:
People Given name
* Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player
* Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister
* ...
and
Geraldine Finlayson
Geraldine Finlayson (born 31 October 1960) is a Gibraltarian Deputy Head of Heritage, as well as Director of the Institute for Gibraltarian Studies and Chief Laboratory Scientist of the Gibraltar Museum. She was Director of the John Mackintosh H ...
suggested that Neanderthals used various bird parts as artistic mediums, specifically black feathers. In 2012, the Finlaysons and colleagues examined 1,699 sites across Eurasia, and argued that
raptor
Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to:
Animals
The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons.
* Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...
s and
corvid
Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rook (bird), rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcracker (bird), nutcrackers. In coll ...
s, species not typically consumed by any human species, were overrepresented and show processing of only the wing bones instead of the fleshier torso, and thus are evidence of feather plucking of specifically the large
flight feather
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...
s for use as personal adornment. They specifically noted the
cinereous vulture
The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...
,
red-billed chough
The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the we ...
,
kestrel
The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...
,
lesser kestrel
The lesser kestrel (''Falco naumanni'') is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer bird migration, migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometim ...
,
alpine chough
The Alpine chough (), or yellow-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax graculus'') is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europ ...
,
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
,
jackdaw
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...
, and the white tailed eagle in Middle Palaeolithic sites. Other birds claimed to present evidence of modifications by Neanderthals are the
golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
,
rock pigeon
The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon".
The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domes ...
,
common raven
The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least e ...
, and the
bearded vulture
The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey and the only member of the genus ''Gypaetus''. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a separate mi ...
. The earliest claim of bird bone jewellery is a number of 130,000 year old white tailed eagle talons found in a cache near Krapina, Croatia, speculated, in 2015, to have been a necklace. A similar 39,000-year-old
Spanish imperial eagle
The Spanish imperial eagle (''Aquila adalberti''), also known as the Spanish eagle or Adalbert's eagle, is a species of eagle native to the Iberian Peninsula. The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. Due to its distinct “epaulet ...
talon necklace was reported in 2019 at
Cova Foradà
Cova Foradà (or Cova Foradada) is an archaeological site consisting of a cave with remains of Neanderthals near Oliva, in the Province of Valencia, Spain. The most complete skeleton of a Neanderthal ever found on the Iberian peninsula was found ...
in Spain, though from the contentious Châtelperronian layer. In 2017, 17 incision-decorated raven bones from the Zaskalnaya VI rock shelter, Ukraine, dated to 43–38 thousand years ago were reported. Because the notches are more-or-less equidistant to each other, they are the first modified bird bones that cannot be explained by simple butchery, and for which the argument of design intent is based on direct evidence.
Discovered in 1975, the so-called
Mask of la Roche-Cotard
The so-called Mask of la Roche-Cotard, also known as the "Mousterian Protofigurine", is a purported Artifact (archaeology), artifact dated to around 75,000 years ago, in the Mousterian period. It was found in 1975 in the entrance of a cave named La ...
, a mostly flat piece of flint with a bone pushed through a hole on the midsection—dated to 32, 40, or 75 thousand years ago—has been purported to resemble the upper half of a face, with the bone representing eyes. It is contested whether it represents a face, or if it even counts as art. In 1988, American archaeologist
Alexander Marshack Alexander Marshack (April 4, 1918 – December 20, 2004) was an American independent scholar and Paleolithic archaeologist. He was born in The Bronx and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from City College of New York, and worked for many y ...
speculated that a Neanderthal at Grotte de L'Hortus, France, wore a leopard pelt as personal adornment to indicate elevated status in the group based on a recovered leopard skull,
phalange
The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones.
...
s, and
tail vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...
e.
Abstraction
As of 2014, 63 purported engravings have been reported from 27 different European and Middle Eastern Lower-to-Middle Palaeolithic sites, of which 20 are on flint cortexes from 11 sites, 7 are on slabs from 7 sites, and 36 are on pebbles from 13 sites. It is debated whether or not these were made with symbolic intent. In 2012, deep scratches on the floor of Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar, were discovered, dated to older than 39,000 years ago, which the discoverers have interpreted as Neanderthal
abstract art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.
Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...
. The scratches could have also been produced by a bear. In 2021, an Irish elk phalanx with five engraved offset
chevrons
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* '' Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock l ...
stacked above each other was discovered at the entrance to the Einhornhöhle cave in Germany, dating to about 51,000 years ago.
In 2018, some red-painted dots, disks, lines, and hand stencils on the cave walls of the Spanish
La Pasiega
Cueva de La Pasiega, or Cave of La Pasiega, situated in the Spanish municipality of Puente Viesgo, is one of the most important monuments of Paleolithic art in Cantabria. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2008, as part o ...
, Maltravieso, and Doña Trinidad were dated to be older than 66,000 years ago, at least 20,000 years prior to the arrival of modern humans in Western Europe. This would indicate Neanderthal authorship, and similar iconography recorded in other Western European sites—such as Les Merveilles, France, and Cueva del Castillo, Spain—could potentially also have Neanderthal origins. However, the dating of these Spanish caves, and thus attribution to Neanderthals, is contested.
Neanderthals are known to have collected a variety of unusual objects—such as crystals or fossils—without any real functional purpose or any indication of damage caused by use. It is unclear if these objects were simply picked up for their aesthetic qualities, or if some symbolic significance was applied to them. These items are mainly
quartz crystal
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
s, but also other minerals such as
cerussite
Cerussite (also known as lead carbonate or white lead ore) is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate (PbCO3), and is an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin ''cerussa'', white lead. ''Cerussa nativa'' was mentioned by Conrad Gessner ...
,
iron pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...
,
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
, and
galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...
. A few findings feature modifications, such as a mammoth tooth with an incision and a fossil
nummulite
A nummulite is a large lenticular fossil, characterized by its numerous coils, subdivided by septa into chambers. They are the shells of the fossil and present-day marine protozoan ''Nummulites'', a type of foraminiferan. Nummulites commonly vary ...
shell with a cross etched in from
Tata, Hungary
Tata (german: Totis; la, Dotis) is a town in Komárom-Esztergom County, northwestern Hungary, northwest of the county town Tatabánya.
Location
Tata is located in the valley between the Gerecse Mountains and Vértes Mountains, some from B ...
; a large slab with 18
cupstone
Cupstones, also called anvil stones, pitted cobbles and nutting stones, among other names, are roughly discoidal or amorphous groundstone artifacts among the most common lithic remains of Native American culture, especially in the Midwestern ...
s hollowed out from a grave in La Ferrassie, France; and a
geode
A geode (; ) is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the fill ...
from Peștera Cioarei, Romania, coated with red ochre. A number of fossil shells are also known from French Neanderthals sites, such as a
rhynchonellid
The taxonomic order Rhynchonellida is one of the two main groups of living articulate brachiopods, the other being the order Terebratulida. They are recognized by their strongly ribbed wedge-shaped or nut-like shells, and the very short hing ...
and a ''Taraebratulina'' from
Combe Grenal
Combe Grenal, also known as Combe-Grenal, is an archeological site consisting of a collapsed cave and a slope deposit near Domme, Dordogne in Dordogne, France. It dates back to c. 130,000 to 50,000 Before Present (BP).
First described by Franç ...
; a
belemnite
Belemnitida (or the belemnite) is an extinct order of squid-like cephalopods that existed from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. Unlike squid, belemnites had an internal skeleton that made up the cone. The parts are, from the arms-most to ...
beak from Grottes des Canalettes; a polyp from Grotte de l'Hyène; a sea urchin from La Gonterie-Boulouneix; and a
rhynchonella
''Rhynchonella'' is an extinct genus of brachiopod found in Ordovician to Eocene strata worldwide. It was a stationary epifaunal suspension feeder.
Description
These 1.75 to 3.75 cm long articulate brachiopods are characterized by a tria ...
,
feather star
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...
, and belemnite beak from the contentious Châtelperronian layer of Grotte du Renne.
Music
Purported Neanderthal
bone flute
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and ...
fragments made of bear long bones were reported from Potočka zijalka, Slovenia, in the 1920s, and Istállós-kői-barlang, Hungary, and Mokriška jama, Slovenia, in 1985; but these are now attributed to modern human activities. The 1995 43 thousand year old
Divje Babe Flute
The Divje Babe flute is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was unearthed in 1995 during systematic archaeological excavations led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at ...
from Slovenia has been attributed by some researchers to Neanderthals, and Canadian musicologist Robert Fink said the original flute had either a
diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize Scale (music), scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, Interval (music), intervals, Chord (music), chords, Musical note, notes, musical sty ...
or
pentatonic
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancie ...
musical scale. However, the date also overlaps with modern human immigration into Europe, which means it is also possible it was not manufactured by Neanderthals. In 2015, zoologist Cajus Diedrich argued that it was not a flute at all, and the holes were made by a scavenging hyaena as there is a lack of cut marks stemming from whittling, but in 2018, Slovenian archaeologist Matija Turk and colleagues countered that it is highly unlikely the punctures were made by teeth, and cut marks are not always present on bone flutes.
Technology
Despite the apparent 150 thousand year stagnation in Neanderthal lithic innovation, there is evidence that Neanderthal technology was more sophisticated than was previously thought. However, the high frequency of potentially debilitating injuries could have prevented very complex technologies from emerging, as a major injury would have impeded an expert's ability to effectively teach a novice.
Stone tools
Neanderthals made stone tools, and are associated with the
Mousterian
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
industry. The Mousterian is also associated with North African ''H. sapiens'' as early as 315,000 years ago and was found in Northern China about 47–37 thousand years ago. It evolved around 300,000 years ago with the
Levallois technique
The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 300,000 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was u ...
which developed directly from the preceding
Acheulean
Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
industry (invented by ''H. erectus'' about 1.8 mya). Levallois made it easier to control flake shape and size, and as a difficult-to-learn and unintuitive process, the Levallois technique may have been directly taught generation to generation rather than via purely
observational learning
Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to oc ...
.
There are distinct regional variants of the Mousterian industry, such as: the Quina and La Ferrassie subtypes of the Charentian industry in southwestern France, Acheulean-tradition Mousterian subtypes A and B along the Atlantic and northwestern European coasts, the Micoquien industry of Central and Eastern Europe and the related Sibiryachikha variant in the Siberian Altai Mountains, the Denticulate Mousterian industry in Western Europe, the
racloir
In archaeology, a racloir, also known as ''racloirs sur talon'' (French for scraper on the platform), is a certain type of flint tool made by prehistoric peoples.
It is a type of side scraper distinctive of Mousterian assemblages. It is created ...
industry around the
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوههای زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
, Spain, and both sides of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
. In the mid-20th century, French archaeologist
François Bordes
François Bordes (December 30, 1919 – April 30, 1981), also known by the pen name of Francis Carsac, was a French scientist, geologist, archaeologist, and science fiction writer.
Biography
He was a professor of prehistory and quaternary g ...
debated against American archaeologist
Lewis Binford
Lewis Roberts Binford (November 21, 1931 – April 11, 2011) was an American archaeologist known for his influential work in archaeological theory, ethnoarchaeology and the Paleolithic period. He is widely considered among the most influe ...
to explain this diversity (the "Bordes–Binford debate"), with Bordes arguing that these represent unique ethnic traditions and Binford that they were caused by varying environments (essentially, form vs. function). The latter sentiment would indicate a lower degree of inventiveness compared to modern humans, adapting the same tools to different environments rather than creating new technologies. A continuous sequence of occupation is well-documented in Grotte du Renne, France, where the lithic tradition can be divided into the Levallois–Charentian, Discoid–Denticulate (43.3±0.929–40.9±0.719 thousand years ago), Levallois Mousterian (40.2±1.5–38.4±1.3 thousand years ago), and Châtelperronian (40.93±0.393–33.67±0.450 thousand years ago).
There is some debate if Neanderthals had long-ranged weapons. A wound on the neck of an
African wild ass
The African wild ass (''Equus africanus'') or African wild donkey is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey (''Equus asinus''), which is sometimes placed within the same spec ...
from Umm el Tlel, Syria, was likely inflicted by a heavy Levallois-point javelin, and bone trauma consistent with habitual throwing has been reported in Neanderthals. Some spear tips from Abri du Maras, France, may have been too fragile to have been used as thrusting spears, possibly suggesting their use as
dart
Dart or DART may refer to:
* Dart, the equipment in the game of darts
Arts, entertainment and media
* Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero
* Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe''
* Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character
* Dar ...
s.
Organic tools
The
Châtelperronian
The Châtelperronian is a proposed industry of the Upper Palaeolithic, the existence of which is debated. It represents both the only Upper Palaeolithic industry made by Neanderthals and the earliest Upper Palaeolithic industry in central and sou ...
in central France and northern Spain is a distinct industry from the
Mousterian
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
, and is controversially hypothesised to represent a culture of Neanderthals borrowing (or by process of
acculturation
Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...
) tool-making techniques from immigrating modern humans, crafting bone tools and ornaments. In this frame, the makers would have been a transitional culture between the Neanderthal Mousterian and the modern human
Aurignacian
The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic
associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where t ...
. The opposing viewpoint is that the Châtelperronian was manufactured by modern humans instead. Abrupt transitions similar to the Mousterian/Châtelperronian could also simply represent natural innovation, like the La Quina–Neronian transition 50,000 years ago featuring technologies generally associated with modern humans such as bladelets and
microlith
A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia an ...
s. Other ambiguous transitional cultures include the Italian
Uluzzian
The Uluzzian Culture is a transitional archaeological culture between the Middle paleolithic and the Upper Paleolithic, found in Italy and Greece.
A team led by archaeological scientist Katerina Douka has dated the Uluzzian as lasting from s ...
industry, and the Balkan
Szeletian
The Szeleta Culture is a transitional archaeological culture between the Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Palaeolithic, found in Austria, Moravia, northern Hungary, and southern Poland. It is dated 41,000 to 37,000 years before the present ( BP), ...
industry.
Before immigration, the only evidence of Neanderthal bone tools are animal rib lissoirs — which are rubbed against hide to make it more supple or waterproof — although this could also be evidence for modern humans immigrating earlier than expected. In 2013, two 51.4–41.1 thousand year old deer rib lissoirs were reported from Pech-de-l’Azé and the nearby Abri Peyrony in France. In 2020, 5 more lissoirs made of aurochs or bison ribs were reported from Abri Peyrony, with one dating to about 51,400 years ago and the other four to 47.7–41.1 thousand years ago. This indicates the technology was in use in this region for a long time. Since reindeer remains were the most abundant, the use of less abundant bovine ribs may indicate a specific preference for bovine ribs. Potential lissoirs have also been reported from Grosse Grotte, Germany (made of mammoth), and Grottes des Canalettes, France (red deer).
The Neanderthals in 10 coastal sites in Italy (namely
Grotta del Cavallo
The Grotta del Cavallo or Cavallo Cave (Italian:"Cave of the Horse") is a limestone cave in the region of Apulia, Southern Italy, near Nardò south of Taranto. The cave is about above present sea level. It has a rounded entrance, wide and ...
and Grotta dei Moscerini) and Kalamakia Cave, Greece, are known to have crafted scrapers using smooth clam shells, and possibly hafted them to a wooden handle. They probably chose this clam species because it has the most durable shell. At Grotta dei Moscerini, about 24% of the shells were gathered alive from the seafloor, meaning these Neanderthals had to wade or dive into shallow waters to collect them. At Grotta di Santa Lucia, Italy, in the
Campanian volcanic arc
The Campanian volcanic arc is a volcanic arc that consists of a number of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in the Campania region of Italy. The Campanian volcanic arc centers on the bay of Naples and includes:
* Mount Vesuvius: an active vo ...
, Neanderthals collected the porous volcanic
pumice
Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...
, which, for contemporary humans, was probably used for polishing points and needles. The pumices are associated with shell tools.
At Abri du Maras, France, twisted fibres and a 3-ply inner-bark-fibre cord fragment associated with Neanderthals show that they produced string and cordage, but it is unclear how widespread this technology was because the materials used to make them (such as animal hair, hide, sinew, or plant fibres) are biodegradable and preserve very poorly. This technology could indicate at least a basic knowledge of
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
and
knot
A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...
ting, which would have made possible the production of nets, containers, packaging, baskets, carrying devices, ties, straps, harnesses, clothes, shoes, beds, bedding, mats, flooring, roofing, walls, and snares, and would have been important in hafting, fishing, and seafaring. Dating to 52–41 thousand years ago, the cord fragment is the oldest direct evidence of fibre technology, although 115,000-year-old perforated shell beads from Cueva Antón possibly strung together to make a necklace are the oldest indirect evidence. In 2020, British archaeologist
Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Rebecca Wragg Sykes is a British Paleolithic Archaeology, archaeologist, broadcaster, popular science writer and author who lives in Wales. She is interested in the Middle Paleolithic, Middle Palaeolithic, specifically in the lives of Neanderthal ...
expressed cautious support for the genuineness of the find, but pointed out that the string would have been so weak that it would have had limited functions. One possibility is as a thread for attaching or stringing small objects.
The archaeological record shows that Neanderthals commonly used animal hide and birch bark, and may have used them to make cooking containers, although this is based largely on
circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...
, because neither fossilizes well. It is possible that the Neanderthals at Kebara Cave, Israel, used the shells of the
spur-thighed tortoise
The Greek tortoise (''Testudo graeca''), also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. ''Testudo graeca'' is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises ( genera '' Testudo'' and '' A ...
as containers.
At the Italian Poggetti Vecchi site, there is evidence that they used fire to process
boxwood
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
branches to make
digging stick
A digging stick, sometimes called a yam stick, is a wooden implement used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers, tilling the soil, or burrowing animals and anthills. It is a term used in ar ...
s, a common implement in hunter-gatherer societies.
Fire and construction
Many Mousterian sites have evidence of fire, some for extended periods of time, though it is unclear whether they were capable of starting fire or simply scavenged from naturally occurring wildfires. Indirect evidence of fire-starting ability includes
pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
residue on a couple of dozen bifaces from late Mousterian (c. 50,000 years ago) northwestern France (which could indicate they were used as percussion fire starters), and collection of
manganese dioxide
Manganese dioxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . This blackish or brown solid occurs naturally as the mineral pyrolusite, which is the main ore of manganese and a component of manganese nodules. The principal use for is for dry-cell ...
by late Neanderthals which can lower the combustion temperature of wood. They were also capable of zoning areas for specific activities, such as for knapping, butchering, hearths, and wood storage. Many Neanderthal sites lack evidence for such activity perhaps due to natural degradation of the area over tens of thousands of years, such as by bear infiltration after abandonment of the settlement.
In a number of caves, evidence of
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
s has been detected. Neanderthals likely considered air circulation when making hearths as a lack of proper ventilation for a single hearth can render a cave uninhabitable in several minutes. Abric Romaní rock shelter, Spain, indicates eight evenly spaced hearths lined up against the rock wall, likely used to stay warm while sleeping, with one person sleeping on either side of the fire. At
Cueva de Bolomor
Cueva de Bolomor, or Bolomor Cave, is an archaeological site near Tavernes de la Valldigna in the Valencian Community, Spain. It was occupied over a long period of time, between 350,000 and 120,000 years ago.
Four Neanderthal remains have been r ...
, Spain, with hearths lined up against the wall, the smoke flowed upwards to the ceiling, and led to outside the cave. In Grotte du Lazaret, France, smoke was probably naturally ventilated during the winter as the interior cave temperature was greater than the outside temperature; likewise, the cave was likely only inhabited in the winter.
In 1990, two 176,000 year old ring structures, several metres wide, made of broken
stalagmite
A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling")
is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...
pieces, were discovered in a large chamber more than from the entrance within Grotte de Bruniquel, France. One ring was with stalagmite pieces averaging in length, and the other with pieces averaging . There were also 4 other piles of stalagmite pieces for a total of or worth of stalagmite pieces. Evidence of the use of fire and burnt bones also suggest human activity. A team of Neanderthals was likely necessary to construct the structure, but the chamber's actual purpose is uncertain. Building complex structures so deep in a cave is unprecedented in the archaeological record, and indicates sophisticated lighting and construction technology, and great familiarity with subterranean environments.
The 44,000 year old Moldova I open-air site, Ukraine, shows evidence of a ring-shaped dwelling made out of mammoth bones meant for long-term habitation by several Neanderthals, which would have taken a long time to build. It appears to have contained hearths, cooking areas, and a flint workshop, and there are traces of woodworking. Upper Palaeolithic modern humans in the Russian plains are thought to have also made housing structures out of mammoth bones.
Bark tar
Neanderthal produced the adhesive birch bark tar, perhaps using plant-based resins for
hafting
Hafting is a process by which an artifact, often bone, stone, or metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appeara ...
. It was long believed that birch bark tar required a complex recipe to be followed, and that it thus showed complex cognitive skills and cultural transmission. However, a 2019 study showed it can be made simply by burning birch bark on smooth vertical surfaces, such as a flat, inclined rock.
Clothes
Neanderthals were likely able to survive in a similar range of temperatures to modern humans while sleeping: about while naked in the open and windspeed , or while naked in an enclosed space. Since ambient temperatures were markedly lower than this—averaging, during the Eemian interglacial, in July and in January and dropping to as a low as on the coldest days—Danish physicist Bent Sørensen hypothesised that Neanderthals required tailored clothing capable of preventing airflow to the skin. Especially during extended periods of travelling (such as a hunting trip), tailored footwear completely enwrapping the feet may have been necessary.
Nonetheless, as opposed to the bone sewing-needles and
stitching awl
A stitching awl is a tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a shar ...
s assumed to have been in use by contemporary modern humans, the only known Neanderthal tools that could have been used to fashion clothes are hide scraper (archaeology), scrapers, which could have made items similar to blankets or ponchos, and there is no direct evidence they could produce fitted clothes. Indirect evidence of tailoring by Neanderthals includes the ability to manufacture string, which could indicate weaving ability, and a naturally-pointed horse metatarsal bone from Cueva de los Aviones, Spain, which was speculated to have been used as an awl, perforating dyed hides, based on the presence of orange pigments. Whatever the case, Neanderthals would have needed to cover up most of their body, and contemporary humans would have covered 80–90%.
Since human/Neanderthal admixture is known to have occurred in the Middle East, and no modern body louse species descends from their Neanderthal counterparts (body lice only inhabit clothed individuals), it is possible Neanderthals (and/or humans) in hotter climates did not wear clothes, or Neanderthal lice were highly specialised.
Seafaring
Remains of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools on Greek islands indicate early seafaring by Neanderthals in the Ionian Sea possibly starting as far back as 200–150 thousand years ago. The oldest stone artefacts from Crete date to 130–107 thousand years ago, Cephalonia 125 thousand years ago, and Zakynthos 110–35 thousand years ago. The makers of these artefacts likely employed simple reed boats and made one-day crossings back and forth. Other Mediterranean islands with such remains include Sardinia, Melos, Alonnisos, and Naxos (although Naxos may have been connected to land), and it is possible they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. If this interpretation is correct, Neanderthals' ability to engineer boats and navigate through open waters would speak to their advanced cognitive and technical skills.
Medicine
Given their dangerous hunting and extensive skeletal evidence of healing, Neanderthals appear to have lived lives of frequent traumatic injury and recovery. Well-healed fractures on many bones indicate the setting of splint (medicine), splints. Individuals with severe head and rib traumas (which would have caused massive blood loss) indicate they had some manner of dressing major wounds, such as bandages made from animal skin. By-and-large, they appear to have avoided severe infections, indicating good long-term treatment of such wounds.
Their knowledge of
medicinal plants
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...
was comparable to that of contemporary humans. An individual at Cueva del Sidrón, Spain, seems to have been medicating a dental abscess using Populus, poplar—which contains medical uses of salicylic acid, salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin—and there were also traces of the antibiotic-producing ''Penicillium chrysogenum''. They may also have used yarrow and camomile, and their bitter taste—which should act as a deterrent as it could indicate poison—means it was likely a deliberate act. In Kebara Cave, Israel, plant remains which have historically been used for their medicinal properties were found, including the common grape vine, the pistachio tree, pistachios of the Pistacia atlantica, Persian turpentine tree, ervil seeds, and oak acorns.
Language
The degree of language complexity is difficult to establish, but given that Neanderthals achieved some technical and cultural complexity, and interbred with humans, it is reasonable to assume they were at least fairly articulate, comparable to modern humans. A somewhat complex language—possibly using syntax—was likely necessary to survive in their harsh environment, with Neanderthals needing to communicate about topics such as locations, hunting and gathering, and tool-making techniques. The FOXP2 gene in modern humans is associated with speech and language development. FOXP2 was present in Neanderthals, but not the gene's modern human variant. Neurologically, Neanderthals had an expanded Broca's area—operating the formulation of sentences, and speech comprehension, but out of a group 48 genes believed to affect the neural substrate of language, 11 had different DNA methylation, methylation patterns between Neanderthals and modern humans. This could indicate a stronger ability in modern humans than in Neanderthals to express language.
In 1971, cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman attempted to reconstruct the Neanderthal vocal tract and concluded that it was similar to that of a newborn and incapable of producing a large range of speech sounds, due to the large size of the mouth and the small size of the pharyngeal cavity (according to his reconstruction), thus no need for a descended larynx to fit the entire tongue inside the mouth. He claimed that they were anatomically unable to produce the sounds /a/, /i/, /u/, /ɔ/, /g/, and /k/ and thus lacked the capacity for articulate speech, though were still able to speak at a level higher than non-human primates. However, the lack of a descended larynx does not necessarily equate to a reduced vowel capacity. The 1983 discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid bone—used in speech production in humans—in Kebara 2 which is almost identical to that of humans suggests Neanderthals were capable of speech. Also, the ancestral Archaeological site of Atapuerca, Sima de los Huesos hominins had humanlike hyoid and ear bones, which could suggest the early evolution of the modern human vocal apparatus. However, the hyoid does not definitively provide insight into vocal tract anatomy. Subsequent studies reconstruct the Neanderthal vocal apparatus as comparable to that of modern humans, with a similar vocal repertoire. In 2015, Lieberman hypothesized that Neanderthals were capable of syntax, syntactical language, although nonetheless incapable of mastering any human dialect.
It is debated if Behavioral modernity, behavioural modernity is a recent and uniquely modern human innovation, or if Neanderthals also possessed it.
Religion
Funerals
Claims that Neanderthals held funerals for their dead with symbolic meaning are heavily contested and speculative. Although Neanderthals did bury their dead, at least occasionally—which may explain the abundance of fossil remains— it is not indicative of a religious belief of life after death, as such burial could have also had non-symbolic motivations, such as great emotion or to prevent scavenging.
Estimates made regarding the number of known Neanderthal burials range from thirty-six to sixty. The oldest confirmed burials do not seem to occur before approximately 70,000 years ago. The small number of recorded Neanderthal burials implies that the activity was not particularly common. The setting of inhumation in Neanderthal culture largely consisted of simple, shallow Grave, graves and pits. Sites such as
La Ferrassie
La Ferrassie is an archaeological site in Savignac-de-Miremont, in the Dordogne department, France. The site, located in the Vézère valley, consists of a large and deep cave flanked by two rock shelters within a limestone cliff, under which ...
in France or Shanidar Cave, Shanidar in Iraq may imply the existence of mortuary centers or Cemetery, cemeteries in Neanderthal culture due to the number of individuals found buried at them.
The debate on Neanderthal funerals has been active since the 1908 discovery of La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 in a small, artificial hole in a cave in southwestern France, very controversially postulated to have been buried in a symbolic fashion. Another grave at Shanidar Cave, Iraq, was associated with the pollen of several flowers that may have been in bloom at the time of deposition—yarrow, Centaurea, centaury, ragwort, grape hyacinth, joint pine, and hollyhock. The medicinal properties of the plants led American archaeologist Ralph Solecki to claim that the man buried was some leader, healer, or shaman, and that "The association of flowers with Neanderthals adds a whole new dimension to our knowledge of his humanness, indicating that he had 'soul' ". However, it is also possible the pollen was deposited by a small rodent after the man's death.
The graves of children and infants, especially, are associated with grave goods such as artefacts and bones. The grave of a newborn from La Ferrassie, France, was found with three flint scrapers, and an infant from Cave, Syria, was found with a triangular flint placed on its chest. A 10-month-old from Amud Cave, Israel, was associated with a red deer mandible, likely purposefully placed there given other animal remains are now reduced to fragments. Teshik-Tash 1 from Uzbekistan was associated with a circle of ibex horns, and a limestone slab argued to have supported the head. A child from Kizil-Koba culture, Kiik-Koba, Crimea, Ukraine, had a flint flake with some purposeful engraving on it, likely requiring a great deal of skill. Nonetheless, these contentiously constitute evidence of symbolic meaning as the grave goods' significance and worth are unclear.
Cults
It was once argued that the bones of the cave bear, particularly the skull, in some European caves were arranged in a specific order, indicating an ancient bear cult that killed bears and then ceremoniously arranged the bones. This would be consistent with bear-related rituals of modern human Arctic hunter-gatherers, but the alleged peculiarity of the arrangement could also be well-explained by natural causes, and bias could be introduced as the existence of a bear cult would conform with the idea that totemism was the earliest religion, leading to undue extrapolation of evidence.
It was also once thought that Neanderthals ritually hunted, killed, and cannibalised other Neanderthals and used the skull as the focus of some ceremony. In 1962, Italian palaeontologist Alberto Blanc believed a skull from Mount Circeo, Grotta Guattari, Italy, had evidence of a swift blow to the head—indicative of ritual murder—and a precise and deliberate incising at the base to access the brain. He compared it to the victims of headhunting, headhunters in Malaysia and Borneo, putting it forward as evidence of a skull cult. However, it is now thought to have been a result of cave hyaena predation. Although Neanderthals are known to have practiced cannibalism, there is unsubstantial evidence to suggest ritual defleshing.
In 2019, Gibraltarian palaeoanthropologists Stewart, Geraldine Finlayson, Geraldine, and Clive Finlayson and Spanish archaeologist Francisco Guzmán speculated that the golden eagle had iconic value to Neanderthals, as exemplified in some modern human societies because they reported that golden eagle bones had a conspicuously high rate of evidence of modification compared to the bones of other birds. They then proposed some "Cult of the Sun Bird" where the golden eagle was a symbol of power.
Interbreeding
Interbreeding with modern humans
The first Neanderthal genome sequence was published in 2010, and strongly indicated interbreeding between Neanderthals and early modern humans. The genomes of all non-sub-Saharan populations contain Neanderthal DNA. Various estimates exist for the proportion, such as 1–4% or 3.4–7.9% in modern Eurasians, or 1.8–2.4% in modern Europeans and 2.3–2.6% in modern East Asians. Pre-agricultural Europeans appear to have had similar percentages to modern East Asians, and the numbers may have decreased in the former due to dilution with a group of people which had split off before Neanderthal introgression. Typically, studies have reported finding no significant levels of Neanderthal DNA in Subsaharan Africans, but a 2020 study detected 0.3-0.5% in the genomes of five African sample populations, likely the result of Eurasians back-migrating and interbreeding with Africans, as well as human-to-neanderthal gene flow from dispersals of ''Homo sapiens'' preceding the larger Recent African origin of modern humans, Out-of-Africa migration. Such low percentages of Neanderthal DNA in all present day populations indicate infrequent past interbreeding, unless interbreeding was more common with a different population of modern humans which did not contribute to the present day gene pool. Of the inherited Neanderthal genome, 25% in modern Europeans and 32% in modern East Asians may be related to viral immunity. In all, approximately 20% of the Neanderthal genome appears to have survived in the modern human gene pool.
However, due to their small population and resulting reduced effectivity of natural selection, Neanderthals accumulated several weakly harmful mutations, which were introduced to and slowly selected out of the much larger modern human population; the initial hybridised population may have experienced up to a 94% reduction in fitness compared to contemporary humans. By this measure, Neanderthals may have substantially increased in fitness. A 2017 study focusing on archaic genes in Turkey found associations with coeliac disease, malaria severity, and Costello syndrome. Nonetheless, some genes may have helped modern human Europeans adapt to the environment; the Val92Met variant of the MC1R gene, which may be weakly associated with red hair, may descend from Neanderthals although this is contested as the variant was rare in Neanderthals, and light skin in modern humans did not become prevalent until the Holocene. Some genes related to the
immune system
The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...
appear to have been affected by introgression, which may have aided migration, such as OAS1, STAT2, TLR6, TLR1, TLR10, and several related to immune response. In addition, Neanderthal genes have also been implicated in the structure and function of the brain, intermediate filament, keratin filaments, sugar metabolism, muscle contraction, body fat distribution, enamel thickness, and oocyte meiosis. Nonetheless, a large portion of surviving introgression appears to be non-coding DNA, non-coding ("junk") DNA with few biological functions.
Due to the absence of Neanderthal-derived mtDNA (which is passed on from mother to child) in modern populations, it has been suggested that the progeny of Neanderthal females who mated with modern human males were either rare, absent, or sterile—that is to say, admixture stems from the progeny of Neanderthal males with modern human females. Due to the lack of Neanderthal-derived Y-chromosomes in modern humans (which is passed on from father to son), it has also been suggested that the hybrids that contributed ancestry to modern populations were predominantly females, or the Neanderthal Y-chromosome was not compatible with ''H. sapiens'' and became extinct.
According to linkage disequilibrium mapping, the last Neanderthal gene flow into the modern human genome occurred 86–37 thousand years ago, but most likely 65–47 thousand years ago. It is thought that Neanderthal genes which contributed to the present day human genome stemmed from interbreeding in the Near East rather than the entirety of Europe. However, interbreeding still occurred without contributing to the modern genome. The approximately 40,000 year old modern human Oase 2 was found, in 2015, to have had 6–9% (point estimate 7.3%) Neanderthal DNA, indicating a Neanderthal ancestor up to four to six generations earlier, but this hybrid population does not appear to have made a substantial contribution to the genomes of later Europeans. In 2016, the DNA of Neanderthals from Denisova Cave revealed evidence of interbreeding 100,000 years ago, and interbreeding with an earlier dispersal of ''H. sapiens'' may have occurred as early as 120,000 years ago in places such as the Levant. The earliest ''H. sapiens'' remains outside of Africa occur at Misliya Cave 194–177 thousand years ago, and Skhul and Qafzeh hominins, Skhul and Qafzeh 120–90 thousand years ago. The Qafzeh humans lived at approximately the same time as the Neanderthals from the nearby Tabun Cave. The Neanderthals of the German Hohlenstein-Stadel have deeply divergent mtDNA compared to more recent Neanderthals, possibly due to introgression of human mtDNA between 316 and 219 thousand years ago, or simply because they were genetically isolated. Whatever the case, these first interbreeding events have not left any trace in modern human genomes.
Detractors of the interbreeding model argue that the genetic similarity is only a remnant of a common ancestor instead of interbreeding, although this is unlikely as it fails to explain why sub-Saharan Africans do not have Neanderthal DNA.
Interbreeding with Denisovans
Although nDNA confirms that Neanderthals and Denisovans are more closely related to each other than they are to modern humans, Neanderthals and modern humans share a more recent maternally-transmitted mtDNA common ancestor, possibly due to interbreeding between Denisovans and some unknown human species. The 400,000-year-old Neanderthal-like humans from Sima de los Huesos in northern Spain, looking at mtDNA, are more closely related to Denisovans than Neanderthals. Several Neanderthal-like fossils in Eurasia from a similar time period are often grouped into ''H. heidelbergensis'', of which some may be relict (biology), relict populations of earlier humans, which could have interbred with Denisovans. This is also used to explain an approximately 124,000 year old German Neanderthal specimen with mtDNA that diverged from other Neanderthals (except for Sima de los Huesos) about 270,000 years ago, while its genomic DNA indicated divergence less than 150,000 years ago.
Sequencing of the genome of a Denisovan from Denisova Cave has shown that 17% of its genome derives from Neanderthals. This Neanderthal DNA more closely resembled that of a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal bone from the same cave than that of Neanderthals from
Vindija Cave
Vindija Cave is an archaeological site associated with Neanderthals and modern humans, located in the municipality of Donja Voća, northern Croatia. Three of these Neanderthals were selected as the primary sources for the first draft sequence o ...
, Croatia, or Mezmaiskaya Cave in the Caucasus, suggesting that interbreeding was local.
For the 90,000-year-old Denisova 11, it was found that her father was a Denisovan related to more recent inhabitants of the region, and her mother a Neanderthal related to more recent European Neanderthals at Vindija Cave, Croatia. Given how few Denisovan bones are known, the discovery of a first-generation hybrid indicates interbreeding was very common between these species, and Neanderthal migration across Eurasia likely occurred sometime after 120,000 years ago.
Extinction
Transition
Whatever the cause of their extinction, Neanderthals were replaced by modern humans, indicated by near full replacement of Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian stone technology with modern human Upper Palaeolithic Aurignacian stone technology across Europe (the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic Transition) from 41 to 39 thousand years ago. However, it is postulated that Iberian Neanderthals persisted until about 35,000 years ago indicated by the date range of transitional lithic assemblages—Châtelperronian, Uluzzian, Protoaurignacian, and Early Aurignacian. The latter two are attributed to modern humans, but the former two have unconfirmed authorship, potentially products of Neanderthal/modern human cohabitation and cultural transmission. Further, the appearance of the Aurignacian south of the Ebro River has been dated to roughly 37,500 years ago, which has prompted the "Ebro Frontier" hypothesis which states that the river presented a geographic barrier preventing modern human immigration, and thus prolonging Neanderthal persistence. However, the dating of the Iberian Transition is debated, with a contested timing of 43–40.8 thousand years ago at Cueva Bajondillo, Spain. The Châtelperronian appears in northeastern Iberia about 42.5–41.6 thousand years ago.
Some Neanderthals in Gibraltar were dated to much later than this—such as Zafarraya (30,000 years ago) and Gorham's Cave (28,000 years ago)—which may be inaccurate as they were based on ambiguous artefacts instead of direct dating. A claim of Neanderthals surviving in a polar refuge in the Ural Mountains is loosely supported by Mousterian stone tools dating to 34–31 thousand years ago from the northern Siberian Byzovaya site at a time when modern humans may not yet have colonised the northern reaches of Europe; however, modern human remains are known from the nearby Mamontovaya Kurya site dating to 40,000 years ago. Indirect dating of Neanderthals remains from Mezmaiskaya Cave reported a date of about 30,000 years ago, but direct dating instead yielded 39.7±1.1 thousand years ago, more in line with trends exhibited in the rest of Europe.
The earliest indication of Upper Palaeolithic modern human immigration into Europe is the Balkan Bohunician industry beginning 48,000 years ago, likely deriving from the Levantine Emiran industry, and the earliest bones in Europe date to roughly 45–43 thousand years ago in Bulgaria, Italy, and Britain. This wave of modern humans replaced Neanderthals. However, Neanderthals and ''H. sapiens'' have a much longer contact history. DNA evidence indicates ''H. sapiens'' contact with Neanderthals and admixture as early as 120–100 thousand years ago. A 2019 reanalysis of 210,000 year old skull fragments from the Greek Apidima Cave assumed to have belonged to a Neanderthal concluded that they belonged to a modern human, and a Neanderthal skull dating to 170,000 years ago from the cave indicates ''H. sapiens'' were replaced by Neanderthals until returning about 40,000 years ago. This identification was refuted by a 2020 study. Archaeological evidence suggests that Neanderthals displaced modern humans in the Near East around 100,000 years ago until about 60–50 thousand years ago.
Cause
Modern humans
Historically, modern human technology was viewed as vastly superior to that of Neanderthals, with more efficient weaponry and subsistence strategies, and Neanderthals simply went extinct because they could not compete.
The discovery of Neanderthal/modern human introgression has caused the resurgence of the multiregional origin of modern humans, multiregional hypothesis, wherein the present day genetic makeup of all humans is the result of complex genetic contact among several different populations of humans dispersed across the world. By this model, Neanderthals and other recent archaic humans were simply assimilated into the modern human genome – that is, they were effectively bred out into extinction.
Climate change
Their ultimate extinction coincides with Heinrich event 4, a period of intense seasonality; later Heinrich events are also associated with massive cultural turnovers when European human populations collapsed. This climate change may have depopulated several regions of Neanderthals, like previous cold spikes, but these areas were instead repopulated by immigrating humans, leading to Neanderthal extinction.
It has also been proposed that climate change was the primary driver, as their low population left them vulnerable to any environmental change, with even a small drop in survival or fertility rates possibly quickly leading to their extinction. However, Neanderthals and their ancestors had survived through several glacial periods over their hundreds of thousands of years of European habitation. It is also proposed that around 40,000 years ago, when Neanderthal populations may have already been dwindling from other factors, the Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption in Italy could have led to their final demise, as it produced 2–4 °C cooling for a year and acid rain for several more years.
Disease
Modern humans may have introduced African diseases to Neanderthals, contributing to their extinction. A lack of immunity, compounded by an already low population, was potentially devastating to the Neanderthal population, and low genetic diversity could have also rendered fewer Neanderthals naturally immune to these new diseases ("differential pathogen resistance" hypothesis). However, compared to modern humans, Neanderthals had a similar or higher genetic diversity for 12 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes associated with the adaptive immune system, casting doubt on this model.
Low population and inbreeding depression may have caused maladaptive birth defects, which could have contributed to their decline (mutational meltdown).
In late-20th-century New Guinea, due to cannibalistic funerary practices, the Fore people were decimated by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, specifically Kuru (disease), kuru, a highly virulent disease spread by ingestion of prions found in brain tissue. However, individuals with the 129 variant of the PRNP gene were naturally immune to the prions. Studying this gene led to the discovery that the 129 variant was widespread among all modern humans, which could indicate widespread cannibalism at some point in human prehistory. Because Neanderthals are known to have practised cannibalism to an extent and to have co-existed with modern humans, British palaeoanthropologist Simon Underdown speculated that modern humans transmitted a kuru-like spongiform disease to Neanderthals, and, because the 129 variant appears to have been absent in Neanderthals, it quickly killed them off.
In popular culture
Neanderthals have been portrayed in popular culture including appearances in literature, visual media, and comedy. The "
caveman
The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin ...
"
archetype
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
often mocks Neanderthals and depicts them as primitive, hunchbacked, knuckle-dragging, club-wielding, grunting, nonsocial characters driven solely by animal instinct. "Neanderthal" can also be used as an insult.
In literature, they are sometimes depicted as brutish or monstrous, such as in H. G. Wells' ''The Grisly Folk'' and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' ''The Animal Wife'', but sometimes with a civilised but unfamiliar culture, as in William Golding's ''The Inheritors'', Björn Kurtén's ''Dance of the Tiger'', and Jean M. Auel's ''Clan of the Cave Bear'' and her ''Earth's Children'' series.
See also
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* Early human migrations
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Explanatory notes
Citations
General bibliography
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External links
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Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).
* : Includes Neanderthal mtDNA sequences
GenBank records for ''H. s. neanderthalensis'' maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
{{Authority control
Neanderthals,
Fossil taxa described in 1864
Stone Age Europe
Stone Age Asia