Modern man was really forced to stop and think when unusual fossils (bones) were found in 1856 near Duesseldorf, Germany in the Neander Valley. Workers were mining for limestone in a cave when they came across a skull, and other various bones. This is, of course, how Neanderthal gets its name.
This was not the first discovery of Neanderthal fossils though. It was about 1829 or 1830 when fragments from the skull of a Neanderthal child were found in Belgium, and in 1848 a full skull of an adult was found in Gibraltar. But the find in the Neander Valley began all of the excitement, it stirred up many questions and theories.
These remains found in the cave near Duesseldorf were examined by Rudolf
Vichow, a German Anatomist. He concluded that it was just a Homo sapien (modern
human) with rickets. Vichow claimed that the flattened head was due to some
form of injury. A biologist named
Thomas
Huxley declared that it was an ancestor of modern humans. Paleontologist
Marcellin Boule argued that Neanderthals were not direct ancestors of Homo
sapien sapiens and so called them Homo neanderthalensis. Boule also gave the
impression that these creatures were stupid. Of course this is disputable with
the evidence of the average brain size of a Neanderthal compared with that of a
modern human.
There was a dispute to whether Neanderthals were direct ancestors or an extinct species of their own. Immediately, they were portrayed as slouched over, violent, brute/ape-like cavemen. And this image was carried on until almost 1960. At this time, scientists realized that the first found Neanderthal had arthritis, and they did in fact walk upright. It is said that if you were to put a "cleaned up" Neanderthal with a group of modern day humans, there would not be much difference at all.
The average height is thought to be about 5 feet tall. Their bodies were
probably quite stocky, or muscular, with very strong
legs-most likely due to traveling or
wandering. They had low brow ridges. Their front teeth were quite large, larger
than the modern human’s, and worn - indicating much use for chewing.
Neanderthals’ average brain size is larger than some modern humans.
According to evidence, they lived between 130,000 and 35,000 years ago, dating back to the fourth glaciation-the Wurm. Neanderthals seemed to live primarily in Europe and in Western Asia, this is concluded because most of the fossils were found in these areas.
Many Mousterian tools were found with the fossil remains, consisting of different kinds of scrapers and points. Many believe they primarily hunted reindeer and whenever possible the larger animals such as mammoths, cave bears, etc. Neanderthals were probably hunter/gatherer groups. If so, their diets consisted of mainly small animals, vegetation, and less often the larger animals. They would have used whatever was in their environment for food and tools.
Evidence shows that they possibly buried their dead. Remains have been found in shallow "graves" often buried with items such as flowers, tool, etc., perhaps as offerings to the dead.
Sources
Fagan, Brian M., The Journey From Eden, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London,1990.
Wenke, Robert J., Patterns in Prehistory: humankind’s first three million years, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, 1980, 1984, 1990.