Posted on 12/13/2018 8:50:37 AM PST by ETL
There's a Red Hat over yonder, that's where my baby codes...
My guess: Moms of babies with smaller heads better survived birth and lived on to have more smaller headed fertile offspring.
It's hard to prove a negative here since speech doesn't fossilize, but a similar question might be "Why were Neanderthals less capable of technological and cultural innovation than humans" - they used the same crude stone tools for their entire 400 thousand year history (except what they got from exchanges with humans towards the end of their history), while we kept on innovating. We were smart and versatile enough to change our mode of life when the climate, plants, and animals changed all around us at the end of the Ice Age, they weren't and couldn't compete. Now we have evidence from skulls and genes to help explain why.
The irony is that Lucy was always calling him a “Blockhead”.
Try passing a Neanderthal through the birth canal. It’s no wonder they died out.
Yeah, but you should see Neanderthal hips!
"Road House!"
Question to which you or someone else here may or may not have the answer. Where are the sutures of the skull on the Neanderthal? We know the skull keeps growing, so could the skull on the right represent a very old individual?
Re pic: I assume the one on the right is the Neanderthal. His is bigger.
Sorry, I don’t know, and don’t have time now to research it.
But here’s something I found on a quick search that might include an answer, or at least have additional info...
Neanderthal skulls and brains may have developed just like ours
25 July 2016
I assume the one on the right is the Neanderthal.
Of course. Look at the sloping forehead and elongated skull.
Thank you.
“Therefore a round head (no references to Cromwell and the English revolution please) is the most efficient large brain container”
Or maybe for temperature control or resistance to fracture, or all of the above. On the other hand, the cerebral cortex wrinkles up, apparently to maximize surface/volume. It’s akin to a 3D fractal surface.
Much larger trapezius muscles?
Because there ain’t NO way in hell a sane woman would consent to give birth to a square headed youngun?
‘stretched from front to back like a football”
Neanderthals invented football coz they wanted to get ahead in the game-\
Remember the good-ol` NFL? Neanderthal football League
and their first and last Stupor Bowl?-
They played against the CFL [Cro-Magnon Football League] but lost in sudden death overtime when a CFL kicker
mistakenly kicked a Neanderthal`s head, splitting the uprights and the head simultaneously... The kick was good.
Some various tribes worldwide, wrapped their infants heads in order to get elongated or flattened shapes. Anyone have any pics skills of that sort?
Remember, no culture is "better", or more advanced, than any other. Just different.
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