Neanderthals Clever Enough To Make 'Superglue'

Ananova ^ | 0106-2002

[blam]

Neanderthals clever enough to make 'superglue'

Researchers say Neanderthals had considerable technical and intellectual skills and were as ingenious as modern humans.

German scientists say they have found Neanderthals mixed a kind of superglue to make tools.

It had to be made at a precise temperature and means the race had considerable technical and manual skills in comparison to their dullard image.

Neanderthals are thought to have first appeared around 230,000 to 300,000 years ago.

Professor Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, said the discovery is potentially very important: "It would further show that the behaviour gap between us and Neanderthals is narrower than we thought. Some may say there isn't a gap."

Independent reports that the research centres on a new analysis of two 80,000-year-old samples of blackish-brown pitch discovered in a lignite mining pit in the Harz mountains in Germany.

One of the pitch pieces bears the print of a finger and there are also imprints of a flint stone tool and wood, suggesting the pitch had served as a sort of glue to secure a wooden shaft to a flint stone blade.

The research, carried out at the Doerner-Institut in Munich, found the pitch was a birch pitch, which can be only be produced at temperatures of 300-400C.

The team, led by Professor Dietrich Mania of Freidrich-Schiller University in Jena, said: "This implies the Neanderthals did not come across these pitches by accident but must have produced them with intent."

"The pitch finds demonstrate that the Neanderthals must have possessed a high degree of technical and manual abilities, comparable to those of modern Homo sapiens.''

Story filed: 12:45 Sunday 6th January 2002

[blam]

Neanderthals R us.

[knarf]

All your Neanderthals are belong to us.

[crystalk]

Neanderthals must have been a sort of master race of their day-- inventors of superior German technology.

Then, they stopped having children any more, and let Muslims come in by the millions from North Africa. There went the neighborhood.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Dialup Llama]

If they dig down far enough maybe they'll find the Elf cities.

[Nov3]

Sadly I agree.

[PatrioticAmerican]

So, the Dems are smarter than we think, eh?

[randog]

Neanderthals mixed a kind of superglue to make tools. ...

Now they just buy it at Wal*Mart.

[avg_freeper]

Now all those cave paintings of Ug-Ug hanging on to a hard-hat glued to an I-beam make sense.

[Burkeman1]

Neanderthals- as I understand it- were Homo Sapiens- just a different race. While they had physical traits that are strikingly different from modern humans they are still genetically the same and could mate with modern man today. I am of the belief that Neanderthals were violently wiped out by early Cro Magnum man or in limited cases inbred with them.

[NeonKnight]

There are many people with strong Neanderthal traits.

[Smokin' Joe]

Cities no more, they are in runes.

Couldn't resist!

[Prodigal Son]

Neanderthals- as I understand it- were Homo Sapiens- just a different race.

The part that's always fascinated me is- they had bigger brains.

[Prodigal Son]

So maybe we could rewrite the title to say "Neanderthals wiped out by glue sniffing addiction"

[blam]

"I am of the belief that Neanderthals were violently wiped out by early Cro Magnum man or in limited cases inbred with them."

I believe they were assimilated and that we are them. (No doubt there were many battles between these groups on the way though.)

[blam]

"The part that's always fascinated me is- they had bigger brains."

Do a search on the Allegewi/Tallegewi peoples of America. Some of them were giants with huge heads. (...and presumably larger brains. Were they the Fomorian giants of Irish legend?)

[d4now]

bump for later

[PetiteMericco]

No, they're mixing up glue for sniffing purposes.

[uglybiker]

I've had countless women call me a Neanderthal.

[The Duke]

Obviously Neanderthals had command of modern telecom technology - they're constantly calling me trying to get me to switch long distance providers.