Posted on 04/22/2002 11:13:21 PM PDT by Gladwin
Evidence has emerged to suggest the Neanderthals had a war-mongering nature. The early hunter-gatherers got into fights and used weapons, according to the results of a study of a skeleton uncovered in French caves. A crack in the skull of the 36,000 year-old Neanderthal was caused by a sharp tool, say anthropologists. An early modern human may have struck the blow.
They think another Neanderthal or an early human attacked the young adult. The Neanderthal survived but would have had to be nursed by other members of the tribe.
The findings indicate that the contemporaries of early modern humans were more sophisticated than their popular "caveman" image suggests. They would have needed social skills and organised networks to take part in armed conflict. It may have been a crucial factor in the evolution of Neanderthal and human behaviour, say scientists in Switzerland and France.
The evidence comes from a computer-aided reconstruction of the skull of a Neanderthal found near the village of St Cesaire in 1979. Dr Christoph Zollikofer of the University of Zurich and colleagues say a healed cranial fracture shows the Neanderthal was hit by a sharp tool or weapon.
"These findings add to the evidence that Neanderthals used implements not only for hunting and food processing, but also in other behavioural contexts," they report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
They say the potential for violence might have spurred the evolution of social behaviour.
Prof Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum Professor Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum is an expert on the origins of humans. He says several Neanderthal skeletons showing signs of injury have been uncovered in the past. But to his knowledge injury by another "person" can be implicated in only one other find - a healed wound to a rib on a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq. Prof Stringer told BBC News Online: "In both these cases the individuals survived long enough for the wound to heal, suggesting that Neanderthal social groups gave support to their members.
"Given that this is one of the most recent Neanderthals known, it is even theoretically possible that the weapon used was wielded by a contemporary Cro-Magnon [earliest anatomically modern human]," he added. "But it is much more likely that the injury was caused by another Neanderthal."
This is a surprise?
Like Neanderthals lived among the cold glaciers because they liked to ski?
They lived among the cold glaciers because the people living in the warm areas kicked them out by force, because of scarcity engendered by overpopulation.
Be fair to the Indians. The pre-Columbian Americas consisted of two empires, a larger number of chiefdoms, and numerous independent villages and hunter-gatherer bands. Fixing the blame for the sins of the Aztecs (who praticed ritual human sacrifice, what I believe you are referring to) onto all Indians makes about as much sense as blaming the medieval Scots for the sins of the Byzantine Empire (same continent, different people). Naturally, liberals often make the same generalization, but in reverse (the Yahi were nature-oriented and environmentally conscious, therefore all Indians were *puke*). You are right that some Indian tribes and/or empires certainly were extremely brutal.
Not just the Aztecs. Many Indians west of the Mississippi practiced human sacrifices. Probably some of the eastern Indians did too.
Human sacrifices were a common feature in "nature religions". Not just Indians. Europeans practiced the same sort of rituals.
Funny thing about the Romans. They were remarkably tolerant of other religions. Pretty much as long as you didn't practice human sacrifices or try to convert your neighbor, you were OK. If you did one of these things, they suppressed you.
The Druids got suppressed but good, for the one reason, and they attempted to suppress our Christian forebears for the other.
Neanderthal youth violence! Did they ever know peace in the streets? We need to rid the Neanderthal streets of the Saturday Night Special sharp tool. We need to ban Neanderthal assault sharp tools!
Agreed.
One Injured in Flint Tool Factory Accident Family threatens lawsuit"
LOL...............................I was picturing something more along the lines of:
"OK OK, Og........ok, now........hold that riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight there........yeah, that's it. Now, don't move. Yeah yeah........I can hit it. No, I won't hit you. Now shut up and don't move, ok???????"
And don't forget: Their diversity was their strength.
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