I always loved Neandertals, and now I know why. I’m one of them.
Neandertals were of course the people who evolved in Eurasia from several groups of hominids that migrated out of Africa beginning around two million years ago. They’re named after the place their bones were first found, the Neander Valley in present Germany.
Compared to modern humans, Neandertals were stockier with heavier facial features. Primitive anthropologists early in the last century stereotyped them as primitive cavemen.
But later research revealed that they used fire, made tools, navigated boats, created art, practiced religion and ceremonially buried their dead. They could speak as well as we can. They were typically fair-skinned with reddish hair.
Dressed appropriately, a Neandertal could pass for a modern person, albeit one with coarse features.
Most intriguing, their brains on average were a little bigger than modern brains.
That should be no surprise. Continue reading