Replies

There are several earlier hominid species which predate the first Neanderthals. The earliest go back to about 2 million years ago--Homo rudolfensis and Homo ergaster, then Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, followed by Homo steinhelmensis (c. 350,000-180,000 B.C. or B.P. [Before Present]), then Homo Neanderthalensis starting around 180,000 B.P. The later Neanderthals from about 90,000 to about 27,000 years ago are called the "classic" Neanderthals (despite not knowing a word of Latin or Greek).

In brain size Neanderthals were comparable to modern humans or even slightly larger--the Neanderthals ranged from 1300 to 1700 milliliters whereas modern humans range from 1200 to 1400.

There is a recent scholarly (but very readable) book on the Neanderthals, originally published in German in 2005, English translation 2009: The Neanderthals, by Friedemann Schrenk and Stephanie Mu+ller, translated by Phyllis G. Jestice, published by Routledge (paperback ISBN 978-0-415-42420-9). No National Geographic-style color photos but lots of interesting black-and-white drawings and maps--a very interesting book with up-to-date information.

The Neander Valley, by the way, is named for Joachim Neumann, a Bremen theologian and hymn-writer of the 17th century (composer of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation"). Neumann means "new man" and "Neander" was coined from the Greek roots neo- and andr- meaning "new man."