Eighth Edition
by Harold L. Levin

Chapter 17 - page 5

Human Origins

Final Stages of Human Evolution

The Neandertals

Late Pleistocene hominids are called Neandertals (sometimes spelled Neanderthals).

Neandertals may be a subspecies of Homo sapiens, designated as Homo sapiens neandertalensis.
DNA analysis suggests that they were a separate species of genus Homo - Homo neanderthalensis.
If so, they represent a dead end in human evolution.

Comparison of skull replicas of Homo neanderthalensis (left) and Homo erectus (right). Photo courtesy of Pamela Gore.

Neandertal skull characteristics:

1. Brain size equal to or larger than that of modern humans
2. Heavy supraorbital ridge (brow ridge)
3. Prognathous (face extends forward at toothline) - but not as much as Homo erectus
4. No chin - but lower jaw not as receding as that of Homo erectus
5. Enlarged nasal cavity (for warming cold inhaled air)

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Shanidar Cave, Iraq. 50,000 years old. Photo courtesy of Pamela Gore.	Comparison of skull replicas of Homo neanderthalensis (left), and Homo sapiens (right). Note the larger skull size of the neanderthal. Photo courtesy of Pamela Gore.

Comparison of skull replicas. Homo sapiens (left), Homo neanderthalensis (middle),
and Homo erectus (right). Photo courtesy of Pamela Gore.

Neandertal skeletons were somewhat more robust than human skeletons.

The Neandertals can be divided into three groups.

1. Early Neanderthals, that lived approximately 250,000 to 130,000 years ago
2. Neanderthals that existed during the transition to the Upper Paleolithic, approximately 130,000 to 45,000 years ago
3. Late-surviving Neanderthals after 45,000 years ago, up until about 28,000 years ago.

In central Europe, Neandertals coexisted with early modern humans for thousands of years. As a result, interbreeding occurred. Bones discovered in 2002 show a mix of human and Neandertal traits, suggesting interbreeding.

Neandertals hunted cold-tolerant mammals including cave bears, mammoths, wooly rhinos, reindeer, bison, and aurochs (a type of cattle).

Neandertals manufactured a variety of stone tools, and used fire, which provided light in caves, gave warmth, allowed the thawing and cooking of food, and provided protection from predators.

They constructed shelters or houses of skins, sticks and bones.

They cared for the sick and buried artifacts with the dead, suggesting a belief in an afterlife. Musical instruments have also been found in association with Neandertal remains, such as a flute made from a bone, dating to between 82,000 and 43,000 years ago.

Little People of the South Pacific

A new species of human was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004, Homo floresiensis.

An excavation produced the remains of seven small individuals. The adults were only 3 ft (1 m) tall.

The ancestry of this species is uncertain, however, Homo erectus probably reached the island about 800,000 years ago, and evolved into a smaller species as a result of living on an island with limited food and few large predators.

Homo floresiensis lived as recently as 13,000 years ago, at the same time as both the Neandertals and modern humans.

They hunted, used fire, and made stone tools.

Document created by: Pamela J. W. Gore
Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA

March 7, 2006