More Indications Neandertals Were Like Us
Two more hints that Neandertals were only variants of modern humans have surfaced recently. British and American researchers publishing in PNAS1 studied tooth enamel growth patterns, and found that “Neandertal tooth growth and, by extension, somatic growth, appears to be encompassed within the modern human range of interpopulation variation.” This finding was summarized on National Geographic News.
Another study written up by Bruce Bower in Science News2 hints that Neandertals in Europe, based on analysis of artifacts in a French cave, either knew how to make tools and artistic works themselves, or learned how from contemporaneous modern humans.
1Gautelli-Steinberg et al., “ Anterior tooth growth periods in Neandertals were comparable to those of modern humans,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 10.1073/pnas.0503108102, published online before print September 23, 2005.
2Bruce Bowers, “French site sparks Neandertal debate,” Science News, week of Sept. 17, 2005; Vol. 168, No. 12, p. 189.
The time has come to discard the evolutionary stories about Neanderthals being some sort of primitive, less-evolved ancestors of Homo sapiens. In terms of physique, intellectual capacity and every other measure, they fell within the range of variability of modern humans. They would probably be indistinguishable from Inuits or other stocky-build populations alive today. Absence of tools or art could be merely a function of materials used. Some jungle tribes today, for instance, make spears and blowguns that would rarely survive with their bones. Assuming the hypothesis that Neandertals learned how to use longer-lasting materials from other people, this does not reflect on their intelligence. Even modern humans learned how to work with different metals over different times and places. If Neandertals picked up on new ideas that their slightly-different brethren were doing, this further proves their human nature. They were capable of plagiarism.
The fable of “Neanderthal Man” as a beetle-browed, stoop-shouldered, brutish human precursor, slowly evolving into today’s businessman has been known now for decades to be incorrect. That myth served the propaganda of early Darwinists, but did a lot of damage by promoting the dark art of ranking humans on racial scales. We owe brother Neandertal an apology. Let us welcome Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, with a big hug and handshake, as peers in the neighborhood cave.