A backed piece with an impact fracture from Grotta del Cavallo. The impact fracture demonstrates that this small stone artifact was used as a hunting weapon.
Credit: Dr. Katsuhiro Sano
Posted on 10/07/2019 7:33:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A team of Japanese and Italian researchers, including from Tohoku University, have evidenced mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe dating to 45,000-40,000 years - more than 20,000 years than previously thought. This study, entitled "The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe" published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicated that the spearthrower and bow-and-arrow technologies allowed modern humans to hunt more successfully than Neanderthals - giving them a competitive advantage. This discovery offered important insight to understand the reasons for the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans.
Apparently, Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted in Europe for at least 5,000 years. However, little is known about why modern humans could increase their population size after migrating to Europe and successfully occupy new territories, while autochthonous Neanderthals went extinct ~ 40,000 years ago...
Furthermore, fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectromicroscopy of residues on several pieces demonstrate that the backed pieces were hafted using a complex adhesive, including ochre, plant gum, and beeswax, which stabilized the hafting. "Comparison with FTIR spectroscopy analyses of several red deposit and soil samples recovered from Grotta del Cavallo ruled out organic contaminants from the burial environment and confirmed the presence of ochre as a mixture of silicate and iron oxides", said Chiaramaria Stani (Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste).
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
And, from the "My Ass" desk and 2010:
The three spears, each carved from the trunk of a spruce tree, are 6 feet to more than 7 feet long. They were found with more than 10,000 animal bones, mostly from horses, including many obviously butchered... The spears were obviously made with care. After chopping down an appropriate tree and stripping off the bark and branches, the ancient hunters carved the tip at the base of the trunk, where the wood is hardest. The spears were shaped to be thickest toward the front with a long tapering tail, like modern javelins, which suggests they were meant for throwing rather than jabbing. After all that work "they're not going to throw it at a squirrel in a dark night," said Dennell, who wrote a Nature commentary on the spears. "These people were serious about hunting."
400,000 year old spears found in an German coal mine!
A backed piece with an impact fracture from Grotta del Cavallo. The impact fracture demonstrates that this small stone artifact was used as a hunting weapon.
Credit: Dr. Katsuhiro Sano
Competitive advantage of modern humans over Neanderthals
Modern humans have assault rifles.
You mean, rifles. :^)
The Athenians of classical times prided themselves on being autochthonous. Maybe DNA tests on ancient bones found in Attica will show if they had Neanderthal ancestry. (It’s very likely considering that most present-day people have some Neanderthal ancestry.)
Add use of fire & brewing beer.
Better hunters means more meat. More meat means bigger brains. Bigger brains means modern civilization. Modern civilization means more vegans. More vegans means less meat. Less meat means smaller brains. Smaller brains means we return to the Neanderthals. I rest my case.
The point is, Neandertals and their (and our) forebears Homo Heidelbergensis were hunting in Europe 350,000 years before these finds were laid down.The Neandertal Enigma"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]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
Evidently pc driven diversity wasn’t their strength.
Just imagine if we hadn’t mated with Neanderthals how much smarter we would be.
I think Al Green,the Rat congressman from Texas is a purebred Neanderthal.
The Indian word for vegetarian means poor hunter.
One thing that is non-beyond a doubt though is that populations with high percentages of Neanderthal seem to rule the world, coincidence?
I don’t think you could make that conclusion. The amount of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans is incredibly tiny. What happened were major climate events like ice ages and volcanos that hurt modern human development more than anything.
My guess is that we outbred them, and slowly outnumbered them.
The relatively few samples of Neandertal DNA show up in most people with European or Asian ancestry, as much as 2%, which is more than most of us carry from our great-great-great-great-grands. That means that A) *most* of our ancestors were Neandertal (in fact, the very ones which happen to have survived in the ground) or B) there was no or very very little genetic difference between Neandertal and other archaic humans.
It's the other way around. :^)
See #18.
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