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Modern Humans Arrived in Europe Earlier Than Previously Thought, Study Finds
Wall Street Journal ^ | 20 August 2014 | GAUTAM NAIK

Posted on 08/20/2014 2:50:07 PM PDT by Fractal Trader

A new study concludes that modern humans arrived in Europe much earlier than previously believed, and clarifies more specifically the long time period they overlapped with Neanderthals.

The significant overlap bolsters a theory that the two species met, bred and possibly exchanged or copied vital toolmaking techniques. It represents another twist in an enduring puzzle about human origins: why we triumphed while the better adapted and similarly intelligent Neanderthals died out.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Neanderthals are our closest known extinct relatives, with about 99.5% of DNA in common with humans. They had a brain size similar to ours and much stronger bodies. They were also likely better adapted to Europe's bitter climate and had survived several ice ages. Modern humans, by contrast, arrived in Europe from sultry Africa.

Scientists have struggled to pinpoint when and how the Neanderthals disappeared in Europe. A big reason is that radiocarbon dating of material older than 30,000 years is unreliable because contamination of the samples can make them appear much younger.

A Neanderthal jaw from Zafaraya, Spain Thomas Higham An international team of scientists has now used improved techniques—including methods to remove contamination, plus more sophisticated chemical treatments—to more accurately date samples of bone, shell and charcoal dug up at 40 archaeological sites from Russia to Spain.

Neanderthals originally emerged from Africa and lived in Europe, Russia and the Middle East at least 200,000 years ago and possibly for tens of thousands of years before that.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: blackathena; blackpharaoh; blackpharaohs; blacksparkwhitefire; godsgravesglyphs; haplogroupr1b1a2; helixmakemineadouble; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; niallofthe9hostages; origins; tutankhamun
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To: UCANSEE2

Is the search limited to just this planet?

I suppose I need to limit it to English as that is all I almost understand.


41 posted on 08/20/2014 5:18:21 PM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: mountainlion
Seen any statistics on how many are dumber than rocks?

NO, I've heard that it mostly depends on how many rocks you eat.

42 posted on 08/20/2014 5:21:05 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: PapaBear3625
If they were able to interbreed with the newcomers from Africa

If that were true, then why is there NO NEANDERTHAL DNA in African Negroes ?

43 posted on 08/20/2014 5:22:44 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: mountainlion

Sorry for the ambiguous comeback. I’ll try again.

“No, not on this planet.”


44 posted on 08/20/2014 5:26:07 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: UCANSEE2

“No, not on this planet.”

I have been reading C.S. Lewis “Space Trilogy” so I will be locking for answers.


45 posted on 08/20/2014 6:21:31 PM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: Uncle Miltie; SunkenCiv

46 posted on 08/20/2014 6:51:52 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (ISIS has started up a slave trade in Iraq. Mission accomplshed, Barack, Mission accomplished.)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Looks like she’s had a lip job.


47 posted on 08/20/2014 6:57:05 PM PDT by left that other site
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To: UCANSEE2

I do have faith but it’s in God.


48 posted on 08/20/2014 9:23:13 PM PDT by Kackikat
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To: muir_redwoods

I understand God’s Word about creation, and I am not hung up in details of how many years etc. Science is not my field, although I made it through two college biology classes with labs including Anatomy.....so I could get my degree in Criminal Justice.


49 posted on 08/20/2014 9:25:40 PM PDT by Kackikat
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To: Fractal Trader

Makes me want to search my bookcases to find “Clan of the Cave Bear” for another read, as the last time was probably 15-20 years ago.


50 posted on 08/21/2014 2:04:25 AM PDT by octex
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To: UCANSEE2
"If they were able to interbreed with the newcomers from Africa" -- If that were true, then why is there NO NEANDERTHAL DNA in African Negroes ?

When I said "newcomers from Africa", I meant those humans who had left Africa and who went on to become Europeans and Asians.

51 posted on 08/21/2014 3:48:59 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: Fractal Trader; a fool in paradise; Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; ...
Thanks Fractal Trader and a fool in paradise.
Neanderthals are our closest known extinct relatives, with about 99.5% of DNA in common with humans. They had a brain size similar to ours and much stronger bodies. They were also likely better adapted to Europe's bitter climate and had survived several ice ages.
That contrasts with the imbecility from England that the Neandertal "went extinct" because there was a cold snap right when "gracile anatomically modern humans" arrived from Africa.

52 posted on 08/21/2014 10:32:21 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

in local libraries
"Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

53 posted on 08/21/2014 10:33:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Compare and contrast:

Modern Humans Arrived in Europe Earlier Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

Before they left Africa, early modern humans were ‘culturally diverse’

Neanderthals Died Out 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought, With Help From Modern Humans

So, that ‘tells’ the final story:

Neanderthals were killed off by DIVERSITY!.......................


54 posted on 08/22/2014 6:14:46 AM PDT by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: Fractal Trader

Lets suppose that Neanderthals were faced with the following choices because of the larger number of an invading species:
1. devolve with chimpanzees, back to the past
2. status quo—declining numbers and constested area.
3. Ayla. “Goodbye Mog, I love ya, but this looks like the fun ride.”

Now these guys had a bigger brain than we do today so IMHO the overwhelming choice would be to get into that loooonng line for Ayla.


55 posted on 08/22/2014 7:30:48 AM PDT by wildbill (If you check behind the shower curtain for a murderer, and find one... what's your plan?)
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To: Fractal Trader
A new study concludes that modern humans arrived in Europe much earlier than previously believed

And before that, there were only muslims.
56 posted on 08/22/2014 7:34:00 AM PDT by ZX12R (Never forget the heroes of Benghazi, who were abandoned to their deaths by Obama)
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