Given that 'Neanderthals' were generally thought to be the same species as us, but a different subspecies (i.e. H. sapiens neanderthalensis as opposed to H. sapiens sapiens), it's most likely that they were vanquished and assimilated into our species over time.

While it's tempting to attribute various regressive phenotypical and cultural traits to the persistence of 'Neanderthal' DNA in the human genome, my opinion as a former anthropologist is that the environment is more likely responsible. Everybody likes a good 'caveman' story though.

A fascinating subject.

It is mesmerising speculating about the Neanderthals last days; marooned on the French Mediterranean coast or Gibraltar, deserted by the deer , bison & mammoth who'd followed the retreating ice north. Did they simply turn inwards disoriented & disillusioned and melt away like the ice they’d known so well,or did they interbreed with Cro-Magnon and became a little part of all of us.

Reading the evolution of hominids one repeatedly comes upon principle “B superseded A because B’s brain capacity was bigger and therefore B was (presumably) more intelligent, more able.” And so it follows, bigger brain carriers supersede smaller all the way up the tree.Then BANG! we hit an anomaly—Neanderthal.They had a bigger brain than their successor.

So we speculate : those with a bigger brains are not necessarily smartest , perhaps it’s more to do with the wiring of the brain.
We use present day examples. Those with the biggest brains are not always the smartest, so therefore…

But Neanderthal showed great mental depth, they buried their dead with elaborate ceremony ; flowers and ochres.They made fine tools and delicate bone flutes and shell necklaces.

Resorting to present day examples, again – the smartest don’t always prevail.The smartest ( judged by education/career outcomes) often have less children.If Neanderthal had less offspring they would be more vulnerable to natural disasters & diseases.
And what if the Neanderthal’s (perhaps superior) intelligence was paired with less aggressiveness –they could still have lost out.
Or perhaps, they interbreed with Cro-Magnon, which might explain some of the variation shown in modern psyches.

But it’s all speculation.


However, when I sit by the sea and hear talk that the waters are rising , the ice retreating and the days getting hotter, a ripple of déjà overtakes me ,some where a little part of me has experienced this all before…

Severin makes a good point that Neanderthal man was not necessarily less intelligent than Homo Sapiens.
I think that assimilation and displacement are likely, as Ludwig says.
There is evidence that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens coexisted for long periods of time. There are also similarities and subtle differences in their use of tools. A major theory is that because Homo Sapiens has a highly developed symbolic mind, he was able to be much more successful as a social being. These social skills enabled a greater degree of cooperation among members of his group and also assisted his relations with outsiders who were of the same species. This symbolic behaviour is evidenced in cave paintings and decorative jewelery and also in ritual burial. There is scant evidence to date of the same level of symbolic behaviour in Neanderthal man.

Thanks for the enlightenment, Horus.
The shell necklaces and bone flutes and evidence of elaborate burial rituals do give food for thought.
Perhaps when all is said and done, Neanderthal man just didn't have the same ability to manipulate as Homo Sapiens - this is one of the prime hallmarks of our species.

From the studies I read that discussed the different brain and body types of Neanderthal man and early Homo Sapiens, I tend to believe that Neanderthal man was probably not as bright as Homo Sapiens and thus did not develop as many coping mechanisms as the latter group did.

While Neanderthals were able to feed, clothe and shelter their people, Homo Sapiens maybe went on to be more efficient with planning ahead for hard times.
I don't believe there was any full scale integration, but maybe the occasional taking of females by the dominant groups of the day.

I guess we will never know the full story though.
I wonder which group Adam and Eve were founders of?
Any thoughts on that Runner?

I commend the site at Wikipedia as a highly informative source for the layperson and others interested in this subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal

This page was last modified on 25 February 2010 at 03:27.

One could hardly expect a source more up to date than this one.

Attendance to the above site obviates the human proclivity for idle speculation and revelations of how fragmentary our knowledge can be.