Neaderthals and modern humans?

Question

I know that Neaderthals existed in the middle paleolithic but did they continue to exist in the upper paleolithic as well? And when did moder humans arrive? I know that that there is controversy between whether or not Neaderthals and modern humans co-existed together or are from the same branch of human evolution but i'm just curious as to when the neaderthals died out and when modern humans arrived?

Answer 1

Neandertal Man, Homo sapiens neanderthalenis was first discovered in Germany's Neander Valley. The find was made in 1859. The bones were at various times claimed to be that of a caveman, an ape, a deformed human, and even a Russian Cossack from Napoleon's Army! (The bowed legs were from a lifetime spent on a horse. He was wounded and crawled into the cave to die as Napoleon retreated.)

With a short, stocky body, bowed legs and a large jutting ridge over his eyes, Neandertal quickly be came portrayed as a brutish, dimwitted, and not acceptable in polite Company. In short the stereotypical caveman of bad movies.

Much of the problem that when the remains were fitted together, the scientist got it wrong. Moreover, the body was deformed due to arthritis. Modern reconstruction's, while keeping the stocky build have changed the image. One display even has a Neandertal in evening clothes.

The Neandertals existed between 30,000 and 200,000 years ago. Their physical stature is similar to the Inuit of the far north (Eskimos) The body form conserves heat in a cold environment. Their bones were thicker, nasal passages larger, and their brains were of greater size then those of present-day humans. The Neandertals have huge noses, perhaps to pre-warm air before it enters the body.

The Neandertals used a limited tool kit to survive. The developed the Mousterian system to chip stone and make their axes, scrapers, and points. Throughout their known existence, they did not change their tool styles. Almost 3/4 of the game remains found at Neandertal sites is that if reindeer. Most Neandertal remains show injuries such as broken bones and dislocations. It has been suggested that their hunting methods exposed them to great danger and involved close contact with their prey. It has been suggested that Neandertals hunted only specific animals rather then a broad range as did Cro-Magnon.



The Neandertals were the first to express a religion. They buried their dead. Graves goods, food, tools and even flowers were interred with the body. One body found in Iraq was that of an old man that could only have lived based on the care of others. He had arthritis, a head injury that left him blind in one eye, and an amputed arm.

Recent testing of Neandertal DNA show that present day humans are not descended from the Neandertals. This has placed them outside the human line of descent. However, it should be remembered that this has happened before, Neandertals were out, only to be put back in.

Neandertals lived during the height of the last ice age. They were well adapted to the climate and were well able to survive. When the climate changed it appears that they were incapable of changing with it.

  There are site where it appears Neanderthals and modern humans lived in proximity to each other. Others have questioned this arguing that the ebb and flow of the ice sheets would have caused the two groups to shift North and South. The groups would have occupied their sites perhaps thousands of years apart.

Another issue is that modern humans are more adapted to open plains and steppes. They would have ranged over the tundra of ice age Europe while the Neandertals remained in the increasingly isolated forests. The date given for modern humans entry into Europe is put at 40,000 years ago, seemingly when the Neanderthal was becoming fewer in numbers.

Answer 2

In my opinion, there is a reasonable chance that Neanderthals lived to recent times and maybe are still alive to this day.  There are stories from Russia and the Caucuasus  of a creature (Kaptar and Almas) that may be a surviving population of Neanderthal.  The latest known ones were about 30,000 years ago from Spain.  This is in no way an implication that they found the fossils of the last surviving individual.

Answer 3

The last Neanderthal fossilized skeletal remains found in Europe, date back to 24,000 years ago!

However, that does not imply that that was the LAST Neanderthal to exist!

At least 5 Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal Hybid skeletons have been found, which implies that WE (Cro-Magnon), could successfully breed with Neanderthals, and have viable offspring!

Finally, in the Neanderthal DNA study from 1997, the results indicated, that Neanderthal DNA was more extreme, than 95% OF THE PEOPLE WALKING THE EARTH TODAY!

This also implies, that 5% of the people walking the earth today, have more radically configured DNA than a 25,000 year old Neanderthal!

5% of 6.6 billion is roughly 350 million people...That's one in twenty people you meet!

Answer 4

Indigenous Australians (Aborigines) first settled in Australia some 50,000+ years ago [same time as Neanderthals apparently died out in Asia, but still continued to exist in Europe for another 20,000 years].  If the Australian Aborigines are considered modern humans,   Then Neanderthals and Modern Humans did co-exist but not necessarily on the same continents.