The Neandertals :: essays research papers

The Neandertals Staring into the gloom, I imagine the cave's ancient inhabitants, wrapped in bear skins, huddled near a fire. The haunches of a reindeer roast in the fire. A mother nurses her infant. Children playfully throw pieces of bone into the flames. An old woman tends the wounds of a hunter with an herbal ointment. The strong smells of smoke, unwashed bodies, and rotting carcasses thicken the air.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until recently, nobody would have assumed that the above passage (Rick Gore, pp.6) was about how the Neandertals lived. However, recent studies have shown that Neandertals are smarter than we first thought.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The geography of the Neandertals domain was quite odd. 230,000 years ago Europe was filled with caves, marshes, and grasslands. It was a very harsh and cold wilderness. The Neandertals were in existence right in the middle of the Ice Age, and although occasional warm periods would create subtropical conditions as far north as England for thousands of years, the glaciers would always return and the Neandertals would always be forced south again. The Neandertals could be found as far north as England and as far south as Spain, from Gibralter to Uzbekistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neandertal bones have been found in the Neander Valley and Dusseldorf Germany, in Altamura, Italy and Vindija, Croatia. These are major sites for the European caves the Neandertals lived in. Although the Neandertals went to the southern tip of Italy, they never crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Africa. They migrated from central Europe to central Asia to the Middle East and always came back. Their main mode of moving around was on their feet, and they usually travelled in bands of no more than 30 people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Neandertals had broad noses, and scientists think this was to warm the cold air. They also had thick browridges, receding chins, high foreheads, and their skulls sloped back over their brains. They learned to hunt in groups in order to kill the bigger game. The Neandertals lived with modern humans for 10,000 years, but they didn't change, and eventually it is believed the modern humans conquered them with their more advanced technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although not much is known about the Neandertal's culture, anthropologists have some ideas of how they lived their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is believed by many that the Neandertals practiced cannibalism for a death ritual. There is evidence of this on the skulls and big bones of Neandertals. There are cut marks and some bones have been broken open and are without marrow. Why would they do this? Maybe they liked the way their neighbors tasted, or maybe it was a ritual for a religion of theirs.