Whither the Neanderthals?

NeanderthalsLongest known and best understood of fossil humans First partial skeleton discovered in 1856 in Germany Today, thousands of Neanderthal bones are known from more than 70 sites Despite this, paleoanthropologists still cant decide how Neanderthals were different from living humans, or why they disappeared Most Neanderthal bones are isolated skeletal parts- mostly teeth and jaws Nearly every part of the skeleton is represented in multiple copies More than 20 partial skeletons from both sexes and different ages More than 300 archaeological sites have yielded artifacts and animal bones illuminating Neanderthal behavior Neanderthals evolved in Europe Distinctive anatomical features mark European fossils that are more than 350,000 years old Through natural selection and genetic drift, Neanderthals appeared about 130,000 years ago Distributed continuously from Spain to southern Russia By 80,000 years ago, they had gone into western Asia They persisted there until about 50,000 years ago In some places until 30,000 years ago Neanderthals were the predecessors of modern humans Suggested that they were ancestors of living populations When the Neanderthals occupied Europe & Western Asia, other peoples lived in the Far East & Africa The Africans were anatomically more modern than the Neanderthals Variants of mtDNA and the Y-chromosome in living Eurasian humans derive from African variants Further support- from mtDNA extracted from Neanderthal bones Shows that the last shared ancestor of Neanderthals & humans lived 500,000600,000 years ago Non-sex chromosomes of humans may retain some Neanderthal genes Fossil & genetic evidence suggests that Neanderthal contributions to living populations is small Modern humans invaded west Asian Neanderthal range about 45,000 years ago They swept north and west through Europe, overtaking the Neanderthals within 1015,000 years Modern humans were technologically, economically and demographically more advantaged- greater ability to innovate

PhysicallyNeanderthals had large heads, large trunks, and short/powerful limbs Average brain size = or > modern humans Skulls exhibit specializations Forward projection of the face along the midline Braincase bulged outwards at the sides Depressed elliptical area of roughened bone on the back of the skull Many bumps and crannies in the mastoid process

High activity levels and strenuous lifestyle explain the powerful limbs The short limbs and large trunk conserved body head- probably an adaptive response to the glacial conditions at the time Modern successors- Cro-Magnons Discovered in 1868 Neanderthal bones occur with artifacts from the Middle Paleolithic Cro-Magnon bones occur with artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic Middle & Upper Paleolithic people shared many advanced behaviors Refined ability to flak stone Burial of dead Interest in mineral pigments Control over fire Dependence on meats Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons skeletons sometimes show disabilities- showing that they cared for the old and sick Differences Neanderthals left little evidence of art or jewelry Smaller range of stone tool types Rarely crafted artifacts from bone, ivory, shell, or antler No evidence of projectile weapons

Didnt built lasting structures Confined to mild & temperate latitudes What they produced varied little Cro-Magnons were much more varied Contact Radiocarbon dating suggests that Cro-Magnons displaced the Neanderthals about 45,000 years ago in W. Asia and only about 5-15,000 years ago in Europe There may be contaminations that make these dates wrong Only the alternation of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon layers within one site could provide unarguable evidence of an overlap doesnt exist yet The implication is that in more places the Neanderthals disappeared abruptly Neanderthal & Cro-Magnon interbreeding has been suggested from occasional fossils Including a childs skeleton found in Portugal In each case, the anatomical indications are ambiguous Evidence for cultural contact is sparse, except for one case from FranceA site occupied by Neanderthals before their disappearance Provided a mix of Middle & Upper Paleolithic artifacts Including Bone tools & Jewelry The only indisputable house ruin from a Neanderthal site Could mean that Neanderthals could imitate Upper Paleolithic neighbors Cognition & Extinction Except for the French site, there is little evidence that the Neanderthals could have existed like the Cro-Magnons did This may explain why they disappeared so quickly Neanderthal brains werent any smaller than human brains If there was a difference in brain function, it was in soft disuse that cant be inferred from empty skulls So neither archaeology nor fossils can reveal Neanderthal cognitive capacity This issue is also important because Fossils show that between 130-50,000 years ago, African contemporaries of the Neanderthals were more modern in anatomy But archaeology suggests that they resembled the Neanderthals in behavior A change in brain function about 50,000 years ago could explain why the Africans expanded to Eurasia The discovery of the FOXP2 gene Involved in speech and language Achieved its modern sequences less than 200,000 years ago Provides tentative support for change in brain structure/function Many human gene variants are very ancient

But if there was a brain change, one or more variants should coalesce about this time Fossil bones could provide a further test- some have been shown to retain organic compounds bearing on brain function Longest debate in paleoanthropology Modern humans replaced the Neanderthals with little/no gene exchange Neanderthals succumbed because they didnt use culture as effectively Do Neanderthal genes explain their failure? Will they? Manual Dexterity Despite the fact that Neanderthals could make/use stone tools, they were presumed to have limited manual dexterity This has been questioned Examined this using a 3 dimensional simulation based on the anatomical details of the thumb and index finger of Neanderthals The digits could make tip-to-tip contact Epoxy casts of the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal thumb and index-finger bones were scanned Produced a 3 dimensional polygon mesh model of the bones These models generate a computer model that simulates movement and motion A specific bone- the metacarpal-1 base (the pads of the thumb and fingers)- is a key feature used to grip things precisely The analysis indicates that some Neanderthal metacarpal-1 bases are more condyloid shaped But the La Ferrassie Neanderthal seems more developed- making it likely that the range of movement for its trapezial-metacarpal joint is similar to modern humans Actually, because the Neanderthal joints have a more open configuration, its likely that their thumbs were more mobile than modern humans It has been suggested that their thumb movements were restricted, so they minimized the mobility of the thumb by using the middle range of human values Also examined the index finger movement This has a lot to do with the asymmetry of the index-finger knuckle joint, which causes the finger to flex Neanderthal kuckles are apparently les asymmetrical than modern humans But the modern human flexion/extension values and joints are functionally equivalent in Neanderthals and modern humans Even allowing for limited joint movements in modern humans, the flexing of thumb and index finger allows for tip-to-tip contact

One study suggested that the Neanderthals short thumb and first-finger could have inhibited their precision of movement This study indicated that this wasnt true There is no significant difference between Neanderthals and Modern humans in the locations of their muscle and ligamentous attachments Thus there remains no anatomical argument that precludes modern-human-like movement of the thumb and index finger in Neanderthals The demise of the Neanderthals cant be attributed to any physical inability to use or manufacture Upper-Palaeolithic-like tools According to the evidence, they were capable of manufacturing and handling such implements