The Neandertals :: essays research papers

The swinishsStaring into the gloom, I reckon the caves ancient inhabitants,wrapped in bear skins, huddled near a fire. The haunches of areindeer roast in the fire. A mother nurses her infant. Childrenplayfully throw pieces of bone into the flames. An old woman tendsthe wounds of a hunter with an herb tea ointment. The strong smellsof smoke, unwashed bodies, and rotting carcasses thicken the air.Until recently, nobody would watch fabricated that the above passage (RickGore, pp.6) was about how the Neandertals lived. However, recent studies haveshown that Neandertals atomic number 18 smarter than we setoff thought.The geography of the Neandertals domain was quite odd. 230,000 yearsago Europe was modify with caves, marshes, and grasslands. It was a very harshand cold wilderness. The Neandertals were in existence near in the middle ofthe Ice Age, and although occasional secure periods would create subtropicconditions as far-off north as England for thousands of years, the gl aciers would eternally return and the Neandertals would unendingly be forced south again. TheNeandertals could be found as far north as England and as far south as Spain,from Gibralter to Uzbekistan.Neandertal bones have been found in the Neander Valley and DusseldorfGermany, in Altamura, Italy and Vindija, Croatia. These are major sites for theEuropean caves the Neandertals lived in. Although the Neandertals went to thesouthern tip of Italy, they never crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Africa. Theymigrated from central Europe to central Asia to the Middle East and always came second. Their main mode of moving around was on their feet, and they usuallytravelled in bands of no more than 30 people.The Neandertals had broad noses, and scientists think this was to warmthe cold air. They also had thick browridges, receding chins, high foreheads,and their skulls sloped back over their brains. They learned to hunt in groupsin order to veil the bigger game. The Neandertals lived with moder n reality for10,000 years, but they didnt change, and eventually it is believed the modernhumans conquered them with their more advanced technology.Although not much is known about the Neandertals culture,anthropologists have some ideas of how they lived their life.It is believed by many that the Neandertals practiced cannibalism for adeath ritual. on that point is evidence of this on the skulls and big bones ofNeandertals. There are bite marks and some bones have been broken open and arewithout marrow. Why would they do this? Maybe they liked the way theirneighbors tasted, or perchance it was a ritual for a religion of theirs.