Professor Eugene Morin
Posted on 01/11/2008 12:45:15 AM PST by SunkenCiv
According to archaeologist Dr. Eugene Morin, of Trent University, the long-held view that 35,000 to 40,000 years ago Neanderthals died out and were replaced by migrant homo sapiens in western Europe is not as convincing as once thought... In his study, Prof. Morin suggests that instead of declining to extinction, Neanderthal anatomical characteristics were largely weakened during an episode of significant population decline caused by a cold snap... His theory is based on animal bones recovered at Saint-Cesaire, an archaeological site located in western France... large herbivores such as bison and horse decreased in numbers, whereas reindeer, a cold-adapted species that fluctuate widely in abundance, became the dominant herbivore species over the landscape. "Given this climatic deterioration the environment could not have supported a population increase due to a modern human expansion into Europe, as argued by the promoters of the Neanderthal replacement model," he explained. "Instead, Neanderthals experienced several episodes of population bottlenecks, yet succeeded in maintaining genetic ties with other neighbouring populations, including anatomically modern humans from Africa." ...Though Prof. Morin agrees that some humans might have migrated to Europe during that period, he does not think that it happened to "the large scale implied by many scholars." Rather he believes that rapid genetic changes in the evolution of local populations prevailed over large-scale migration phenomena during the transition between the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsdurhamregion.com ...
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer'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]
by James Shreeve
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Professor Eugene Morin
There are so many ways to go with this.... and so little time.
Gosh, I guess I’m a left wing idiot.
Well, if you were photographed holding a skull that’s really old, you’d look just like that guy.
Not that you’re old, I mean, you’re old-er, but, well, anyway...
;’)
Hey, aren’t you my cousin? ;’)
Absolutely true. One has only to meet my ex-wife and her parents.
(I have a heavy brow-line fetish)
Kinky. ;’)
There were recent articles posted indicating that a) Neanderthals may have been fair skinned and redhaired, thus very able to get as much vitamin D as possible from limited solar exposure, and b) there was a mutation in African immigrants for fair skin that may have made it possible for them to compete more effectively in the sun limited environment of Ice Age Europe. Perhaps someone can enter these links.
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