OT Interesting Read - Maybe Neanderthals Weren't All That Stupid

[Homer J Simpson]

"Scientists have revealed that elaborate ring-shaped structures located deep in France’s Bruniquel Cave date back 176,000 years"

"The rings are among the earliest precisely dated structures made by humans."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/05/25/neanderthals-built-mysterious-rings/84911136/

[Len]

it seems that the structures themselves were designed to light on fire, creating what would have appeared to be circles of flaming stone in the otherwise pitch-black cave.

from http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/unprecedented-discovery-of-mysterious-structures-created-by-neanderthals/

[edit] No sign of any electronic devices though.

[Delta]

I Object To Titles Where Every Bloody Word Is Capitalised For Some Reason!

[TerraHertz]

Interesting, thanks for the link.
That blows away Gobekli Tepe, which is only 12,000 years old.

[Len]

When was it suggested Neanderthals were stupid? I object to misleading thread titles.

Ever since archaeologists disovered the Neanderthals they've been portrayed as stupid, brutish, small-brained, uncivilized, etc.

[Rick Law]

Well, stupid or not, Neanderthal genes are in us.  The closer to Europe where Neanderthal were, the bigger the percentage of Neanderthal gene.

Google "neanderthals human interbreeding" and you will find a ton of reference.

I don't think they were "stupid" per se.  I think what they were good at skills that became outdated for the world they were in.  They were not completing just with us, estimation is more than 10 to 20 different human-like species were competing.  They got out competed.  No different than sword makers today, just hard to make a living making swords even with a war going on.

A lot of them were left in us (modern human today).  So "they" are still around.

[Cerebus]

I Object To Titles Where Every Bloody Word Is Capitalised For Some Reason!

You've got the reason there - "titles" - hence in title case, it's quite a common convention. Must drive you mad reading scientific papers, or book chapter titles.

[CatalinaWOW]

When was it suggested Neanderthals were stupid? I object to misleading thread titles.

Ever since archaeologists disovered the Neanderthals they've been portrayed as stupid, brutish, small-brained, uncivilized, etc.

Well it did start that way.  But then people started realizing that Neandertals had pretty good technology for their time.  And a larger average brain case size than Homo Sapiens (but a different shape).  So for the last thirty or more years the story seems to range from "we don't know" through "maybe a different kind of intelligence" to ....

No one now is sure why Neandertals and Denisovans died out after Homo Sapiens showed up.  Maybe we were just nastier.

[SkyMaster]

Well, stupid or not, Neanderthal genes are in us.  The closer to Europe where Neanderthal were, the bigger the percentage of Neanderthal gene.

Thanks god, I am 5500 km away from Europe 

 

[JoeN]

When was it suggested Neanderthals were stupid? I object to misleading thread titles.

Ever since archaeologists disovered the Neanderthals they've been portrayed as stupid, brutish, small-brained, uncivilized, etc.

You mean by Hollywood, in non-serious 50's science fiction movies?  If so, yeah, I agree with you.  But not really recently, not in anything I have looked at.

No one now is sure why Neandertals and Denisovans died out after Homo Sapiens showed up.  Maybe we were just nastier.

Probably just numbers.  Better intelligence (if that was the case) doesn't help you that much until you can convert that into technology which then gives you leverage.  They could be a bit smarter and still lose out if there were just too many Homo Sapiens.

[Rick Law]

Well, stupid or not, Neanderthal genes are in us.  The closer to Europe where Neanderthal were, the bigger the percentage of Neanderthal gene.

Thanks god, I am 5500 km away from Europe 

 

Yeah, but --- Where were your great great great.......grand parents?  Where they closer?  How do you know?

Studies shown that backs in Africa has the lowest - since those stayed in Africa did not migrated to/through Europe - So except for those who later re-mixed with some Europeans or Asian when/since those former Africans "rediscovered" Africa.  African blacks has no interaction with Neanderthal so next to no Neanderthal gene.

But hey, don't make it sound like it is anything bad.  We have genes from bacteria such as mitochondria that without which we will died.  We don't know how smart Neanderthals were, but we do know how dumb mitochondria is.  No brain at all - just a protein factory fuel-cell within our cells.

We came, we saw, we assimilated, and (hopefully) we got better.

[SkyMaster]

Well, stupid or not, Neanderthal genes are in us.  The closer to Europe where Neanderthal were, the bigger the percentage of Neanderthal gene.

Thanks god, I am 5500 km away from Europe 

 

Yeah, but --- Where were your great great great.......grand parents?  Where they closer?  How do you know?

My reply was not meant to be taken seriously 

Yes I know where my ancestors came from. They came from France several hundred years ago. This was back when there was no hardware store, no electricity, no nothing except cold and long winters; for sure life was difficult back then.