1. Our Closest Relatives, the Neanderthals
By: Stephen Thai

2. Introduction Homo Neanderthalensis
Lived in Europe and Southwestern Asia
138,000 to 28,000 years ago
Mostly an Ice Age
Never numbered more than 100,000
1856, Neander Valley, Germany
1st Neanderthal skulls discovered
Named Feldhofer Neanderthal Fossil

3. Who is this Neanderthal?
A very late homonid
A close relative, but not an ancestor
Lived around the same time as modern humans, and even shared territory
Possibly interbred with humans - not proven yet.
Note: Humans did not evolve from Neanderthals

4. Neanderthal Bodies Relative to Humans
5 ft, 185 lbs – shorter than humans
Larger noses, heads, bones, muscles
Bulkier, stronger than humans
Efficient and well suited to cold environments
Less agile
Short limbs, wide pelvises
Similar brain size
Much stronger with thicker bones
Due to natural selection

6. Similarities Both made tools Both made clothing
Both conducted religious ceremonies
Both lived in communities and had an organized social life

7. Culture Social Unit Like humans… Lacked art
Consisted of extended family members
Took care of the sick and injured
Mostly lived inside caves
Like humans…
Knew how to use fire
Constructed complex
temporary structures for
shelter when migrating
Skinned animals
Lacked art
Discovery of fossils records showing that many individuals died years after sustaining severe injuries
Not possible w/o help from others
Humans had cave drawings and crafts

8. Burials 1st known hominids to bury dead
Was it a ritual or simply to avoid attracting scavengers?
Sites contain multiple individuals
Usually inside caves/ rock shelters
Some filled with items and pollen
Intentional or no?
Occasional cannibalism
Stone tools, animal bones, and pollen
Intentional? Then capable of higher level thinking, symbolism, and possibly language
Cannibalism – cut marks on bones of dead left by stone tools

9. Interaction with Humans
Usually avoided each other when possible
Increasing numbers of humans in Neanderthal habitats made avoidance harder
Culture Changes
Adoption of bone and ivory tools
Puncturing holes into animal bones for decoration
Early form of art for Neanderthals

11. Extinction Theories Climate Change
Sudden swings between warm and cold rapidly changed environment
Killed off many species that Neanderthals depended on for food
Not intelligent enough to develop technology for surviving cold, esp. compared to humans
Extinction coincided w/ coldest period of Ice Age
Natural selection would favor humans
Out-competed (and killed off) by humans?

12. Extinction cont. Competition with Humans
Homo sapiens more technologically advanced
Better tools for hunting and survival
Division of labor
Human women did not hunt – gatherers
Neanderthal women hunted – higher rates of death
Result: reduced birth rates and survival rates of young children for Neanderthals
More humans competing with less Neanderthals
Always the possibility of direct confrontation b/w the 2

13. Neanderthal Genome Project
Sequence the Neanderthal genome
DNA extracted from femur bone of 38,000 year old male fossil, Croatia
Helped in discovery of FOXP2 gene
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
454 Life Sciences
DNA similarities
Human and Chimpanzee: 98.77%
Human and Neanderthal: 99.5%
Possible interbreeding?