Re: Neanderthals, sex and modern humans Topic #3


Jois wrote:
....
>
> Remember this one:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1469607.stm
>
> Goes on about cranial difference present right from the start.

Hmm, yep. Here's another view on that view:

http://karmak.org/archive/2003/01/westasia.htm
"
.... On the other hand, the youngest Neanderthals in the skull study,
younger than age 3, were not compared to early modern humans, only to
recent humans. Since recent humans are less Neanderthal-like than early
modern humans, the degree of difference seen in the study between
Neanderthal and recent human infants may be greater than what would be
observed between Neanderthal and early modern human infants.

While studies of skulls indicate a divergence of Neanderthal and modern
human anatomy before age 3, those involving other bones of the skeleton
often fail to show such early contrasts. One study, for example, found
that the leg bones of two Neanderthal children from Dederiyeh, Syria,
both about age 2, overlap in their traits with the bones of early
modern children from Skhul, Qafzeh, and other sites (Kondo and Ishida,
2001). Another has found the hip bones of early modern children from
Qafzeh to be similar to those of Neanderthal children from France (Majo
and Tillier, 2001). And a study of the upper arm and lower leg bones of
a Neanderthal infant from the Amud site in Israel found its bones to be
similar to those of recent infants (Odwak, 2001).
"

My 2-bobs' worth? While the OOA view of Stringer, Tattersall etc. gets
the best run in the media, the real story is probably more complex, &
certainly much less clear, than the simplistic, easily understood BBC
pop-science version...

Ross Macfarlane

P.S. Here's a link to the abstract of the Ponce de Leon / Zollikofer
letter to Nature:
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/010802/010802-1.html

.

Relevant Pages

  • Close correspondence between quantitative- and molecular-genetic divergence times for Neande
    ... 2008 -- Neanderthals and humans once shared a common ... Now that scientists have a better idea on when Neanderthals split from ... *Department of Anthropology, University of California, One Shields ... cranial differences between Neandertals and modern humans. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • New Scientist: Seafood gave us the edge on the Neanderthals
    ... visit the Food and Drink and Human ... Chemical signatures locked into bone suggest the Neanderthals got the ... "It seems modern humans had a much broader diet, ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: Neanderthals, sex and modern humans Topic #3
    ... On the other hand, the youngest Neanderthals in the skull study, ... > younger than age 3, were not compared to early modern humans, only to ... > that the leg bones of two Neanderthal children from Dederiyeh, Syria, ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Hs te Hn?
    ... How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humans ... A fossil discovery bears marks of butchering similar to those made when ... Neanderthals - may have been solved. ... Modern humans ate them, says a leading ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Neanderthal, the other white meat
    ... How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humans ... A fossil discovery bears marks of butchering similar to those made ... Neanderthals - may have been solved. ... apparently butchered by modern humans. ...
    (sci.archaeology)