Neanderthals are often depicted as
brutish cavemen but science shows that
our early ancestors were actually quite
advanced Neanderthals or Homo
neanderthalensis are our closest
relatives in the human family tree the
species lived from about 400,000 to
40,000 years ago
and inhabited an area that stretched as
far west as Europe’s Atlantic coast and
as far east as Central Asia their
habitats reached northward to modern-day
Belgium making them the first humans to
survive a cold glacial ecosystem the
North’s cold environment may have
influenced Neanderthals physique their
bodies were relatively short with males
averaging five feet five inches and
females five feet one inch tall and they
were stalky with broad chests bulky
torsos and muscular limbs these
adaptations helped Neanderthals generate
and retain body heat also their noses
were large and had relatively high
bridges this created a nasal chamber
that warmed and humidified the cold dry
air they breathe in northern regions
apart from adaptations that help
Neanderthals survive a harsh wintry
habitat the species also developed large
brains they were similar in size to
modern humans brains and were often
larger an increase in brain size may
have played a significant role in
another type of adaptation culture
culture is indicative of an intelligent
species and archaeological evidence
suggests that Neanderthals had a
relatively sophisticated culture they
built shelters made and wore clothing
and created advanced tools in fact they
were the first human species to make
tools out of bone
just stop they also created objects that
served ornamental purposes Neanderthals
are suspected to be the first humans to
carry out the symbolic gesture of
burying their dead and adorning grave
sites with flowers Neanderthals may have
also created what may be the world’s
oldest cave art which was found in Spain
despite advances in their culture
sometime after 40 thousand years ago he
and earth all seriously disappeared some
scientists believe the Neanderthals were
killed or out competed by modern humans
or Homo sapiens who arrived in Europe at
around the same time as the Neanderthals
extinction however another theory
suggests that Neanderthals made it with
modern humans and were absorbed into the
humans much larger population that may
explain why most people of European or
Asian descent have one to two percent
Neanderthal genes in their DNA
for more than 150 years Neanderthals
have perplexed anthropologists the first
neanderthal fossil specimen was
discovered in Belgium in 1829 by
Philippe Charles Schmeling however it
wasn’t officially classified as
Neanderthal until decades later the
first fossil to be recognized as
Neanderthal and as an early human or
genus Homo fossil was found in 1856 by
Quora men in germany the new species was
named neanderthalensis after the area
where the fossils were found Neander
Valley Neanderthals fossils tell us how
evolution built them to be sturdy to
survive their harsh environment but
their tools art and DNA tell us that
their resilience also evolved innovation
creativity and social behavior much like
Homo sapiens today
[Music]
[Music]
you
brutish cavemen but science shows that
our early ancestors were actually quite
advanced Neanderthals or Homo
neanderthalensis are our closest
relatives in the human family tree the
species lived from about 400,000 to
40,000 years ago
and inhabited an area that stretched as
far west as Europe’s Atlantic coast and
as far east as Central Asia their
habitats reached northward to modern-day
Belgium making them the first humans to
survive a cold glacial ecosystem the
North’s cold environment may have
influenced Neanderthals physique their
bodies were relatively short with males
averaging five feet five inches and
females five feet one inch tall and they
were stalky with broad chests bulky
torsos and muscular limbs these
adaptations helped Neanderthals generate
and retain body heat also their noses
were large and had relatively high
bridges this created a nasal chamber
that warmed and humidified the cold dry
air they breathe in northern regions
apart from adaptations that help
Neanderthals survive a harsh wintry
habitat the species also developed large
brains they were similar in size to
modern humans brains and were often
larger an increase in brain size may
have played a significant role in
another type of adaptation culture
culture is indicative of an intelligent
species and archaeological evidence
suggests that Neanderthals had a
relatively sophisticated culture they
built shelters made and wore clothing
and created advanced tools in fact they
were the first human species to make
tools out of bone
just stop they also created objects that
served ornamental purposes Neanderthals
are suspected to be the first humans to
carry out the symbolic gesture of
burying their dead and adorning grave
sites with flowers Neanderthals may have
also created what may be the world’s
oldest cave art which was found in Spain
despite advances in their culture
sometime after 40 thousand years ago he
and earth all seriously disappeared some
scientists believe the Neanderthals were
killed or out competed by modern humans
or Homo sapiens who arrived in Europe at
around the same time as the Neanderthals
extinction however another theory
suggests that Neanderthals made it with
modern humans and were absorbed into the
humans much larger population that may
explain why most people of European or
Asian descent have one to two percent
Neanderthal genes in their DNA
for more than 150 years Neanderthals
have perplexed anthropologists the first
neanderthal fossil specimen was
discovered in Belgium in 1829 by
Philippe Charles Schmeling however it
wasn’t officially classified as
Neanderthal until decades later the
first fossil to be recognized as
Neanderthal and as an early human or
genus Homo fossil was found in 1856 by
Quora men in germany the new species was
named neanderthalensis after the area
where the fossils were found Neander
Valley Neanderthals fossils tell us how
evolution built them to be sturdy to
survive their harsh environment but
their tools art and DNA tell us that
their resilience also evolved innovation
creativity and social behavior much like
Homo sapiens today
[Music]
[Music]
you
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