Neanderthals: New Findings & Theories

[Sid]

More about the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician technocomplex and the debate about when humans first entered Europe.

Researchers on the hunt to settle a long-standing debate ended up rewriting the timeline of ancient human history in the process.

For years, archaeologists have argued over an ancient culture with the unwieldy title: the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician technocomplex. Even scientists know that's a mouthful, so they call it the LRJ for short.

The LRJ is characterized by the creation of specific blades and leaf points, which share aspects of both Neanderthal and Homo sapien craftsmanship.

LRJ stone tools newly excavated from Ranis. (Josephine Schubert/Museum Burg Ranis)

The debate is over who made them, and the answer could help offer clues as to what happened about 45,000 years ago – when Neanderthals, one of our closest human relatives, mysteriously went extinct across Europe while Homo sapiens, ultimately, thrived.

"The usual wisdom was to consider that they were made most likely by late Neanderthals," said study co-author Jean-Jacques Hublin, a professor of paleoanthropology at the College of France.

But Hublin and his colleagues wanted to settle the debate once and for all. This led them to Ilsenhöhle cave in Ranis, Germany, one of several sites across Northwestern Europe where LRJ artifacts have been found. ...

https://www.sciencealert.com/pioneer-humans-entered-europe-thousands-of-years-earlier-than-thought

I came across this broken part of a flint knife 'of the time,' in my back garden many years ago ~ (not where I presently live).
I was digging a hole in order to plant something in a flower bed, and I was intrigued to find it there.
*Bottom:

*One edge carried an incredibly sharp single cutting edge,
and on the other edge, as you can see had a serrated edge.
*Top@

 

[Frideswide]

@Sid How long is it?

 

[Steven]

Thank goodness for observant people - I would've just thrown that out as junk, having missed the clues.

 

[Sid]

@Sid How long is it?

*This is the length and width:

 

[Frideswide]

Thank goodness for observant people - I would've just thrown that out as junk, having missed the clues.

It does take practice @Sid obviously has an eye for these things!

 

[ramonmercado]

Did Neanderthals achieve a higher level of cognition by sniffing this glue.

Neanderthals created stone tools held together by a multi-component adhesive, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings, which are the earliest evidence of a complex adhesive in Europe, suggest these predecessors to modern humans had a higher level of cognition and cultural development than previously thought.

The work, reported in the journal Science Advances, included researchers from New York University, the University of Tübingen, and the National Museums in Berlin.

"These astonishingly well-preserved tools showcase a technical solution broadly similar to examples of tools made by early modern humans in Africa, but the exact recipe reflects a Neanderthal 'spin,' which is the production of grips for handheld tools," says Radu Iovita, an associate professor at New York University's Center for the Study of Human Origins.

The research team, led by Patrick Schmidt from the University of Tübingen's Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology section and Ewa Dutkiewicz from the Museum of Prehistory and Early History at the National Museums in Berlin, re-examined previous finds from Le Moustier, an archaeological site in France that was discovered in the early 20th century.

The stone tools from Le Moustier—used by Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic period of the Mousterian between 120,000 and 40,000 years ago—are kept in the collection of Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History and had not previously been examined in detail. The tools were rediscovered during an internal review of the collection and their scientific value was recognized. ...

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-neanderthals-usage-complex-adhesives-reveals.html

 

[Sid]

It does take practice @Sid obviously has an eye for these things!

Here is another item I found while having a look at a Dolman. As I walked away from the stone age Dolman along a stony pathway, I happened to notice this round stone which looked out-of-place amongst the 'normal' stones.

So, I brought it home as a keepsake of the trip and thought no-more of it, other than having it as a paperweight.

Then I happened to come across similar pictures of stone age items that were found on a dig some years ago, along by the A9 in Scotland, and I noticed the similarity of one in particular, which turned out to be almost identical to the one I have. I believe it to being a Stone Age Hand Hammer. . .

*Notice only this edge of the stone is chipped and worn in this way, fits the hand beautifully, may also be a geode inside as it seems exceptionally heavy for it's size.

 

[Tunn11]

Face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman revealed​

By Jonathan Amos, Rebecca Morelle and Alison Francis
BBC Science News

What would it be like to meet one of our closest human relatives from 75,000 years ago in the flesh?
Scientists have produced a remarkable reconstruction of what a Neanderthal woman would have looked like when she was alive.
It is based on the flattened, shattered remains of a skull whose bones were so soft when excavated they had the consistency of "a well-dunked biscuit".
Researchers first had to strengthen the fragments before reassembling them.
Expert palaeoartists then created the 3D model.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68922877

 

[Sid]

Face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman revealed​

View attachment 76253
Not surprised she's got lines and crows feet ~ seeing as she's 75,000 years old!

 

[Frideswide]

Face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman revealed

definitely someone I'd offer tea, biscuits and a natter to!

 

[Sid]

definitely someone I'd offer tea, biscuits and a natter to!

You might well like to offer her tea, biscuits and have a natter with - but she might well stay over and have you, quite literally, for breakfast!

 

[Mythopoeika]

She looks like Danny Trejo!

 

[charliebrown]

I read a newer theory that the interbreeding with modern man for thousands of years caused the disappearance of the Neanderthal.

It was first thought that Neanderthal and modern man keep to their separate ways, but this theory says they cohabited.

 

[ramonmercado]

Art for art's sake - the Cultured Neanderthal.

130,000-year-old Neanderthal-carved bear bone is symbolic art, study argue​

The carved bear bone is one of the earliest human-made artifacts with "symbolic culture" unearthed in Europe.​

Different views of a roughly 4-inches-long (10.6 centimeters) bear bone that has Neanderthal-made cut marks on it. (Image credit: T. Gąsior, Płonka et al; (CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED))

A nearly 130,000-year-old bear bone was deliberately marked with cuts and might be one of the oldest art pieces in Eurasia crafted by the Neanderthals, researchers say.

The roughly cylindrical bone, which is about 4 inches long (10.6 centimeters), is adorned with 17 irregularly spaced parallel cuts. A right-handed person most likely crafted the piece, probably in one sitting, a new study finds.

The carved bone is the oldest known symbolic art made by Neanderthals in Europe north of the Carpathian Mountains. It gives scientists a glimpse into the behavior, cognition and culture of modern humans' long-dead cousins, who lived in Eurasia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they disappeared.

"It is one of the quite rare Neanderthal objects of symbolic nature," Tomasz Płonka, professor of archaeology at the University of Wrocław, told Live Science. "These incisions have no utilitarian reason." For instance, the bone does not appear to be a tool or an object of ritual importance, the study found.
Researchers discovered the bone in 1953 in Dziadowa Skała Cave in southern Poland and initially believed it was the rib of a bear. They excavated the bone from a layer dating to the Eemian period (130,000 to 115,000 years ago), one of the warmer periods of the last ice age. However, Płonka's team found that the bone is an arm bone (radius) that came from the left forelimb of a juvenile bear, most likely a brown bear (Ursus arctos).

In the new study, the researchers examined the bone with a 3D microscope and computed tomography (CT) scans, which enabled them to make a digital model of the bone. Based on this model, the researchers suggested that the marks showed several characteristics of intentional organization. For instance, the marks were repetitive, meaning that the incisions were repeated in a similar fashion; similar, because they all belong to the same basic shape despite some size differences; limited, as the markings were confined to a specific area, even though there was room for more; and organized, as the cut marks were placed in a systematic way, even though their spacing varies slightly. ...

https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...carved-bear-bone-is-symbolic-art-study-argues

 

[Sid]

Art for art's sake - the Cultured Neanderthal.

130,000-year-old Neanderthal-carved bear bone is symbolic art, study argue​

The carved bear bone is one of the earliest human-made artifacts with "symbolic culture" unearthed in Europe.​

Different views of a roughly 4-inches-long (10.6 centimeters) bear bone that has Neanderthal-made cut marks on it. (Image credit: T. Gąsior, Płonka et al; (CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED))

A nearly 130,000-year-old bear bone was deliberately marked with cuts and might be one of the oldest art pieces in Eurasia crafted by the Neanderthals, researchers say.

The roughly cylindrical bone, which is about 4 inches long (10.6 centimeters), is adorned with 17 irregularly spaced parallel cuts. A right-handed person most likely crafted the piece, probably in one sitting, a new study finds.

The carved bone is the oldest known symbolic art made by Neanderthals in Europe north of the Carpathian Mountains. It gives scientists a glimpse into the behavior, cognition and culture of modern humans' long-dead cousins, who lived in Eurasia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they disappeared.

"It is one of the quite rare Neanderthal objects of symbolic nature," Tomasz Płonka, professor of archaeology at the University of Wrocław, told Live Science. "These incisions have no utilitarian reason." For instance, the bone does not appear to be a tool or an object of ritual importance, the study found.
Researchers discovered the bone in 1953 in Dziadowa Skała Cave in southern Poland and initially believed it was the rib of a bear. They excavated the bone from a layer dating to the Eemian period (130,000 to 115,000 years ago), one of the warmer periods of the last ice age. However, Płonka's team found that the bone is an arm bone (radius) that came from the left forelimb of a juvenile bear, most likely a brown bear (Ursus arctos).

In the new study, the researchers examined the bone with a 3D microscope and computed tomography (CT) scans, which enabled them to make a digital model of the bone. Based on this model, the researchers suggested that the marks showed several characteristics of intentional organization. For instance, the marks were repetitive, meaning that the incisions were repeated in a similar fashion; similar, because they all belong to the same basic shape despite some size differences; limited, as the markings were confined to a specific area, even though there was room for more; and organized, as the cut marks were placed in a systematic way, even though their spacing varies slightly. ...

https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...carved-bear-bone-is-symbolic-art-study-argues

I notice that on enlarging the photograph (above) of the marked bone, not all the cuts are parallel as is stated?
Seems more like some kind of a useful tool of the time, rather than anything else?

 

[ramonmercado]

Neanderthals provided care for Down syndrome children.

More than 146,000 years ago, Neanderthals hunted birds and other game during short stays at a Spanish cave called Cova Negra.

Anthropologists studying the bones they left behind came across one that stood out: a part of the skull that contains the inner ear bones just a few centimeters long, from a child who lived to about age 6.

The bone displays a handful of tiny anomalies most commonly found in people with Down syndrome today. The child likely had this condition and had hearing loss, scientists report today in Science Advances—the oldest known example of the condition. If confirmed, the finding would add to the evidence that our close cousins cared for vulnerable members of their communities.

“I’m really impressed,” says Peter Steyger, an auditory neuroscientist at Creighton University who studies deafness in people with Down syndrome. “It really gives us an insight into Neanderthal society.” ...

https://www.science.org/content/article/bones-reveal-first-evidence-down-syndrome-neanderthals

 

[Fabio Picasso]

A new experimental methodology for assessing adhesive properties shows that Neandertals used the most suitable material available
Abstract:

The use of adhesives for hafting stone tools at least 191 ka was a major technological development. Stone
tools could be more securely attached to handles, thus improving their efficiency and practicality. To produce functional adhesives required forethought and planning, as well as expertise and knowledge of the resources available in the landscape. This makes adhesives important in discussions about Neandertal and early modern human technological and mental capabilities. However, we currently know very little about how these early adhesive materials behaved under different circumstances, or why certain materials were used and others were not. Here we present the results of controlled laboratory bulk property tests (hardness, rheology and thermogravimetric analysis) on replica Paleolithic adhesives. We conclude that birch tar is more versatile, has better working properties, and is more reusable than pine resin, the most likely alternative material. Neandertals may therefore have invested more time and resources to produce birch tar because it was the best material available, both functionally and economically, throughout the majority of Europe during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Our results further demonstrate that Neandertals had high levels of technological expertise and knowledge of the natural resources available to them in their environment.​

Source: Kozowyk, P. R. B., & Poulis, J. A. (2019). A new experimental methodology for assessing adhesive properties shows that Neandertals used the most suitable material available. Journal of Human Evolution, 137, 102664.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Here is another item I found while having a look at a Dolman. As I walked away from the stone age Dolman along a stony pathway, I happened to notice this round stone which looked out-of-place amongst the 'normal' stones.

So, I brought it home as a keepsake of the trip and thought no-more of it, other than having it as a paperweight.

Then I happened to come across similar pictures of stone age items that were found on a dig some years ago, along by the A9 in Scotland, and I noticed the similarity of one in particular, which turned out to be almost identical to the one I have. I believe it to being a Stone Age Hand Hammer. . .

*Notice only this edge of the stone is chipped and worn in this way, fits the hand beautifully, may also be a geode inside as it seems exceptionally heavy for it's size.

View attachment 76122 View attachment 76124

A very interesting find. I have seen many stone tools and there is a good chance that they have been used for small jobs such as striking.

 

[Sid]

A very interesting find. I have seen many stone tools and there is a good chance that they have been used for small jobs such as striking.

That's just what the stone seems to carry ~ on one side only - hit/strike markings which have worn away the 'crust' part of the stone, maybe a geode as it's pretty heavy for such a small item, and it has a bit of a node shape which sticks up slightly in one place which happens to fit the gripping part quite nicely at the lower 'pointy' end. It was also the only rounded stone visible in the area, all the rest were normal rough scree stones.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

That's just what the stone seems to carry ~ on one side only - hit/strike markings which have worn away the 'crust' part of the stone, maybe a geode as it's pretty heavy for such a small item, and it has a bit of a node shape which sticks up slightly in one place which happens to fit the gripping part quite nicely at the lower 'pointy' end. It was also the only rounded stone visible in the area, all the rest were normal rough scree stones.

A practical way to identify a tool is to see if it has a small indentation where the fingers grip to achieve greater power on impact. That is, holding the palm of the hand plus a few fingers. You have to try with both hands since I have found left-handed stone instruments.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Neanderthal-human Hybrids
Abstract:

Evidence from studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA extracted from Neanderthal fossils and humans points to fascinating hypotheses concerning the types of interbreeding that occurred between these two species. Humans and Neanderthals share a small percentage of nuclear DNA. However, humans and Neanderthals do not possess the same mitochondrial DNA. In mammals, mitochondrial DNA is exclusively maternally inherited. Taking into account an understanding of interspecific hybridity, the available data leads to the hypothesis that only male Neanderthals were able to mate with female humans. If Haldane’s Law applied to the progeny of Neanderthals and humans, then female hybrids would survive, but male hybrids would be absent, rare, or sterile. Interbreeding between male Neanderthals and female humans, as the only possible scenario, accounts for the presence of Neanderthal nuclear DNA, the scarcity of Neanderthal Y-linked genes, and the lack of mitochondrial DNA in modern human populations.​

Source: Paul H. Mason & Roger V. Short . Neanderthal-human Hybrids, 2011

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Neanderthal-Denisovan Ancestors Interbred with a Distantly Related Hominin
Abstract:
Previous research has shown that modern Eurasians interbred with their Neanderthal and Denisovan predecessors.We show here that hundreds of thousands of years earlier, the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans interbred with their own Eurasian predecessors—members of a “superarchaic” population that separated from other humans about 2 million years ago. The superarchaic population was large, with an effective size between 20 and 50 thousand individuals. We confirm previous findings that (i) Denisovans also interbred with superarchaics, (ii) Neanderthals and Denisovans separated early in the middle Pleistocene, (iii) their ancestors endured a bottleneck of population size, and (iv) the Neanderthal population was large at first but then declined in size. We provide qualified support for the view that (v) Neanderthals interbred with the ancestors of modern humans.

Source: Alan R. Rogers et al. ,Neanderthal-Denisovan Ancestors Interbred with a Distantly Related Hominin.Sci. Adv.6,eaay5483(2020)

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Thinking Neanderthals: What do we know about Neanderthal Cognition?
Abstract:

The study of Neanderthal cognition is difficult, because of the archaeological invisibility of cognition, and because of the methodological issues that arise both from that invisibility and from their being close to modern humans. Nevertheless, fair progress has been made in gathering relevant evidence. There is now good evidence that Neanderthals were cognitively sophisticated, displaying many of the cognitive traits that were traditionally regarded as proxies for modern human cognition, notably including language. It can neither be proven nor excluded that they were our cognitive equals, but they were close enough to us, biologically and cognitively, to interbreed successfully and leave a genetic legacy in our DNA.​

Source: Johansson S. The thinking Neanderthals: What do we know about Neanderthal cognition? Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2014 Nov;5(6):613-620

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Skeletal Anomalies in The Neandertal Family of El Sidrón (Spain) Support A Role of Inbreeding in Neandertal Extinction
Abstract:
Neandertals disappeared from the fossil record around 40,000 bp, after a demographic history of small and isolated groups with high but variable levels of inbreeding, and episodes of interbreeding with other Paleolithic hominins. It is reasonable to expect that high levels of endogamy could be expressed in the skeleton of at least some Neandertal groups. Genetic studies indicate that the 13 individuals from the site of El Sidrón, Spain, dated around 49,000 bp, constituted a closely related kin group, making these Neandertals an appropriate case study for the observation of skeletal signs of inbreeding. We present the complete study of the 1674 identified skeletal specimens from El Sidrón. Altogether, 17 congenital anomalies were observed (narrowing of the internal nasal fossa, retained deciduous canine, clefts of the first cervical vertebra, unilateral hypoplasia of the second cervical vertebra, clefting of the twelfth thoracic vertebra, diminutive thoracic or lumbar rib, os centrale carpi and bipartite scaphoid, tripartite patella, left foot anomaly and cuboid-navicular coalition), with at least four individuals presenting congenital conditions (clefts of the first cervical vertebra). At 49,000 years ago, the Neandertals from El Sidrón, with genetic and skeletal evidence of inbreeding, could be representative of the beginning of the demographic collapse of this hominin phenotype.​

Source: Ríos, L., Kivell, T.L., Lalueza-Fox, C. et al. Skeletal Anomalies in The Neandertal Family of El Sidrón (Spain) Support A Role of Inbreeding in Neandertal Extinction. Sci Rep 9, 1697 (2019).

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Case for Neanderthal Survival: Fact, Fiction or Faction?
Abstract:

It is a truism to state that human evolution is a frighteningly complex subject. It is all too easy to yield to the temptation to construct ever more elaborate 'family trees' even though the fossil record is fragmentary and chronologically inexact. The supposed fate of Neanderthal man (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) and the origin of modern man (Homo sapim sapim) have recently received a good deal of attention—most of which serves to emphasize the gaps in our knowledge without coming much nearer to a solution. This review presents some of the conflicting arguments which have been put forward, stressing a need to keep an open mind about the possibility of Neanderthal survival.​

Source: Shackley M. The case for Neanderthal survival: fact, fiction or faction? Antiquity. 1982;56(216):31-41.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Neanderthals in central Asia and Siberia
Abstract:
Morphological traits typical of Neanderthals began to appear in European hominids at least 400,000 years ago1 and about 150,000
years ago2 in western Asia. After their initial appearance, such traits increased in frequency and the extent to which they are expressed until they disappeared shortly after 30,000 years ago. However, because most fossil hominid remains are fragmentary, it can be difficult or impossible to determine unambiguously whether a fossil is of Neanderthal origin. This limits the ability to determine when and where Neanderthals lived. To determine how far to the east Neanderthals ranged, we determined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from hominid remains found in Uzbekistan and in the Altai region of southern Siberia. Here we show that the DNA sequences from these fossils fall within the European Neanderthal mtDNA variation. Thus, the geographic range of Neanderthals is likely to have extended at least 2,000km further to the east than commonly assumed.​

Source: Krause, J., Orlando, L., Serre, D., Viola, B., Prüfer, K., Richards, M. P., … Pääbo, S. (2007). Neanderthals in central Asia and Siberia. Nature, 449(7164), 902–904.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Thermoluminescence dates for the Neanderthal burial site at Kebara in Israel.
Overview:
The origins of modern man are a subject of controversy among palaeoanthropologists concerned with human evolution Particularly heavily debated is the dating of hominid remains uncovered in southwestern Asia, because middle palaeolithic sites have provided skeletal remains classified as representing Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis at Tabun, Amud, Kebara and Shanidar caves) and proto-Cro-Magnons (Homo sapiens sapiens at Skhul and Qafzeh caves). This situation differs considerably from that of Western Europe, where only Neanderthal remains are known from archaeological deposits of this period, or that of the African continent, where no Neanderthal remains have so far been found

Source: Valladas, H., Joron, J. L., Valladas, G., Arensburg, B., Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., … Vandermeersch, B. (1987). Thermoluminescence dates for the Neanderthal burial site at Kebara in Israel. Nature, 330(6144), 159–160.​

 

[Sid]

A practical way to identify a tool is to see if it has a small indentation where the fingers grip to achieve greater power on impact. That is, holding the palm of the hand plus a few fingers. You have to try with both hands since I have found left-handed stone instruments.

Seems to fit the Right hand perfectly!

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Seems to fit the Right hand perfectly!
View attachment 78893

It seems that way but due to its small size it was probably better used taken between the thumb and index fingers and lodged in the gap between them.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

On Neanderthal vs. Paranthropus.
Overview:
We warmly welcome Strasenburgh's response (CA 16:486-87) to Porshnev's article and our comments. It is encouraging and refreshing to deal with a critic who does not "quietly ignore" the subject. Moreover, it is evident that Strasenburgh is one of us-a hominologist, one who recognizes and attempts to sub- stantiate the existence of relic hominoids. His argument with us is not about whether the creatures exist or not, but about their exact identification. It is probably this "family bond" that ex- plains the curtness of his comment. We don't mind the form, but we take exception to much of the substance of Strasen- burgh's retort.

Source: Bayanov, Dmitri, and Igor Bourtsev. “On Neanderthal vs. Paranthropus.” Current Anthropology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1976, pp. 312–18.