The Nature of Neanderthals

ANTH201

The Nature of Neanderthals
For decades, Neanderthals have been viewed as an unintelligent and primitive species. Often times they and those who came before them were referred to as “glorified baboons”.   Since the first Neanderthal fossils were discovered, scientific and popular opinion has varied, raising the questions of how different Neanderthals and modern humans really were. Some, such as Jared Diamond, still hold the opinion that Neanderthals were “primitive beings for whom art and progress scarcely existed” (Diamond, Jared 24). However, other researchers, including Joe Alper have come to the conclusion that they “were highly intelligent, able to adapt to wide variety of ecological zones, and capable of developing highly functional tools to help them do so” (Alper, Joe 146). These interpretations beg for the question as to whether the evidence suggests a direct Neanderthal and modern human relationship. The interpretations fall into several categories, each giving only a partial and/or biased view. Two of these categories are biological; taking into account the fossil record and, more recently, DNA analysis. A third major source of data is archaeology; examining the artifacts and other material traces left.
According to Dr. Alper's article, Neanderthal fossils show that they had a brain as big or even bigger than that of the anatomically modern human, Homo sapiens. Further studies implied that they also cared for one another when one was injured or ill. Evidence of this was found in an Iraqi cave site, by Archeologist Ralph Solecki, of a 40 to 45 years old male. The skeletons of this male had injuries and an illness that would have lead to his death at an earlier age unless someone had taken care of him. In addition to caring for one another, the way in which fossilized Neanderthal's skeletons are arranged also suggests they buried their dead. “This was really the first demonstration that Neanderthals behaved in what we think of as a...