Posted on 02/06/2020 12:07:41 PM PST by Bob Ireland
In many ways, the last surviving Neanderthals are a mystery. But four caves in Gibraltar have given an unprecedented insight into what their lives might have been like.
Forty thousand years ago in Europe, we were not the only human species alive – there were at least three others. Many of us are familiar with one of these, the Neanderthals.
Fossil evidence shows that, towards the end, the final few were clinging onto survival in places like Gibraltar.
In recognition of this, Gibraltar received Unesco world heritage status in 2016. ... "They weren't just surviving," the Gibraltar museum's director of archaeology Clive Finlayson tells me of its inhabitants.
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"It was in some way Neanderthal city," he says. "This was the place with the highest concentration of Neanderthals anywhere in Europe."
Clive, along with his wife Geraldine and son Stewart, has been excavating these caves for many years. All three are scientists.
While the front part of the cave is relatively open the back is darker and splits off into several chambers. The caves remain cool in the summer and slightly warm in the colder months.
Remains from the cave suggest that they exploited seafood and marine mammals. This is unsurprising given new evidence published in January 2020 that suggests they could swim. There is even evidence that they hunted dolphins, says Clive Finlayson. How they did so remains unclear, but we do know they hunted – or scavenged – large game like woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, deer and ibex. (Read about the drowned landscape where Neanderthals lived.)
More...
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“They would have dominated collegiate wrestling!”
That and I would have hated to have faced them one on one when a running back like that came at me. If they could chase down small animals to eat, I can imagine how much speed they may have had in that compact size. Would have been like trying to tackle an artillery shell.
rwood
To Neanderthals...
Celebrate!
Liberate your inner Neanderthal!
Fight 50,000years of Cro-Magnon oppression!
https://www.thestar.com/life/2010/10/28/science_confirms_the_neanderthal_in_ozzy_osbourne.html
rwood
Not enough lol
My idea in this first article posted in over 15 years was the somewhat unique angle of their style of life in the twilight of their existence. Neanderthals seem to be enjoying a revival of late.
However, I ran into the excerpt rules between FR and BBC: something like 450 words. I considered dropping the effort altogether but pushed on hoping the excerpt would encourage readers to visit the source. In the main it seemed to draw the predictable response.
“Don’t forget Homo Erectus”
I think that applies to only guys like Pete Buttigieg.
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