Neanderthals essay

An extinct human species called the Neanderthal lived in ice period Europe 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals have pronounced brow ridges and a receding forehead. People have the misconception that Neanderthals were an insular and intellectually inferior species, but new research using the tools of contemporary medicine shows that they were actually far more intelligent than people believe.

Levallios flakes were the preferred implement of Neanderthals. The device appeared to be more of a stroke of luck than good reasoning at first. Metin Eren, a contemporary scientist, makes an effort to create this weapon but finds that it is much more difficult than he had anticipated. He spent 18 months making the machine. From morphometrics, the Neanderthals used precise strikes to turn a raw block into a carefully shaped object. The fact that they used a technology not comprehensible to modern man shows how intelligent the Neanderthals were.

Language is a unique skill only perfected by humans, but this is not the case when it comes to Neanderthals. FOXP2 gene is responsible for speech and language in humans. An identical gene as was found in the genome of the Neanderthals. This means that they communicated to each other, although through actions when they carried out their day-to-day activities. Having a language continues to disapprove the claim that Neanderthals are less intelligent as compared to humans. Their style was more effective as they manufactured items that a modern human cannot, even when presented with the same resources used by the Neanderthals in making the tool.

Neanderthal extinction was a gradual process over thousands of years. Upon the arrival of humans in their habitat, the Neanderthals were outnumbered 10 to 1. Their extinction was a process of interaction and absorption. Although extinct, their genes were absorbed by the dominant population through interbreeding with early man and can now be manifested in the modern population.