A unexampled report suggests that Neanderthals , unlike mankind , never figured out how to make coats to stay warm , and that the absence of this technological innovation contributed to their eventual dying . It ’s an intriguing possibility , but there ’s more to the story of Neanderthal defunctness than the absence of parkas .
Writing in theJournal of Anthropological Archaeology , researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada have expose evidence showing that Neanderthals may have died out because they were unable to sufficiently warm themselves using brute pelt . Rather than comprehend themselves in informal anorak - like clothing , Neanderthals were not able-bodied to move beyond primitive cape , which accord to the authors of the raw study may have had something to do with their ultimate undoing . They either lacked the intelligence to make clothing from animate being fur , say the researchers , or they get cultural traditions bear in their way .
To get to this theory , study lead writer Mark Collard and his confrere studied animal ivory line up around ancient campsites . At the Neanderthal site , they notice a double-dyed absence seizure of animal remains associated with fur coat , namely foxes , cony , minks , and even wolverines . By contrast , the researchers found multiple traces of these animate being around 56 former human campfire . Conceivably , all of these animals could have been skinned to leave material for a fur coat or parka . What ’s more , the investigator found other grounds significative of wearable at these web site , include bone needle for sewing and other tools used to scrape up pelts .
want of warm clothing , say the researchers , would have dissuaded Neanderthals from scrounge further north , and restrict the amount of time they could hunt during the warmest part of the solar day . The investigator admit there ’s more to the story about Neanderthal extermination , but the power to keep warm could have given early humans a competitive border .
On the face of it , this theory seems to have some merit ; a “ killer whale app ” like warm coats could be the kind of evolutionary technological origination that separates the boy from the men ( excuse the doctrine of analogy ) . At the same sentence , however , there ’s something very unsatisfying about this hypothesis . The Neanderthals , as we ’re steady get a line , were survivor , having weather Ice Age conditions for thousand of years . Yes , it ’s possible that Neanderthals were never capable to make coat — or they refused to wear out them for cultural reasons ( which seems farcical given the obvious benefits)—but this unlikely contributed to their eventual extinction .
Neanderthals first appeared in Europe well over 150,000 years ago , and they managed to survive 100,000 year of Ice Age condition , an geological era known as the Last Glacial Period . That ’s a foresighted stretch of meter by any measure , and a want of coating did n’t seem to bother the Neanderthals . What ’s more , their body were well suited for natural selection in insensate climates . They had barrel chests and stocky limbs , which allowed them to store consistency warmth more efficiently than early humans . That said , they did require more vitality to fuel their beefy torso .
As to the query of Neanderthal intelligence agency , it was likely en par to that of Cro - Magnon , the first other innovative humans to settle Europe . We know that Neanderthalsburied their dead , made cave paintings , created jewellery , anddecorated themselves with plume . In fact , earlyhumans may have even ripped off Neandertal technology , including the lissoir , a specialised pearl used to play fauna hides to make them softer , tougher , shinier , and more insubordinate to water supply . Neanderthals may have even used these tools to forge the sort of clothing that the Simon Fraser researchers claim they never had .
Indeed , it ’s potential that Neanderthals crafted article of clothing from fox and wolverines , but discarded the remains in such a way that archeologist are now ineffectual to recoup them ; absence of evidence is not evidence of absence , as the saying go .
The reasons for neandertal experimental extinction may have nothing to do with being cold , and in fact , some research suggests the exact opposite . After having adapt to Ice Age conditions for millenary , Neanderthals may have establish it difficult to cope with dramatic variety in climate , and the ensuing change to their prey and habitat .
Neanderthal man , as a discrete species , disappeared from the fossil disk sometime between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago . menage sapiens arrived in Europe between 45,000 and 43,000 years ago , but Neanderthalsmay have already been on the decline by the time humans come , the oddment of thembeing absorbedthroughinterbreeding . world and Neanderthals shared Europe for several thousand years , so it would be a surprisal if Neanderthals did n’t adopt some Cro - Magnon applied science ( a cognitive operation known as ethnic commutation ) . It ’s also worth observe that the Neanderthals did n’t so much “ die out ” as they were engross into the human gene pool .
The reasons for Neanderthal extinction , if that ’s what it can be called , are complex and varied . Simplistic solutions , while tempting , rarely leave the whole story .
[ Journal of Anthropological Archaeology ]
anthropologyArchaeologyearly humansneanderthalsPaleontologyScience
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