The Neanderthals were among the population of archaic Homo sapiens
The Neanderthals were among the population of archaic Homo sapiens believed to be dumb brutes and speaking not much different from apes. Scientist finds it had to discover the behaviour of Neanderthals entirely because their behaviour was increasingly complex and nuanced. They exhibited a unique and distinct cluster of physical characteristics far beyond other archaic Homo sapiens. First, the geographic boundary of where Neanderthals lived include some parts of western Europe, the Middle East, and West Asia. These regions have a specific type of weather that allowed habitable locations at the time of existence of Neanderthals. They get adapted to extremely cold weather, and it made us believe that Neanderthals lived might have existed during some of the coldest times like last Ice Age. No Neanderthal fossils have ever been discovered outside of this cold environment, and that is why there is no connection between Neanderthal and Africa. Think the hot conditions in Africa could not allow surviving.
Neanderthals physical features showed the extension of some patterns seen in archaic Homo sapiens. A good example was the pattern of enlargement of the cranial capacity. The brain size of Neanderthal was around 1,500 cc but extended to upwards of 1,700 cc. So it means some parts their brain kept growing with time. It was evident from the differences between the past skull and the previous skull that looked wider and low shape at the back. Both the brain and skull size of Neanderthal would be compared to modern humans. Another recognizable characteristic of hominins was the enlargement of the nasal region. The nose was large and projected forward as it appeared as if it was pulled forward away from the other parts of the face. Apart from the brain, Neanderthals had teeth that also resembled archaic Homo sapiens. The jaws of Neanderthals appeared oversize with a gap between the final molar and the point where the jaw ends. I think most of the traits that Neanderthals possessed attributed to the ways they can adapt extreme cold environments from the regions they were discovered. Like the enlarged nose allowed longer nasal passages and mucus membranes which will help to absorb warm air for breathing.
Neanderthals innovated cultural patterns that were similar to the archaic Homo sapiens and most importantly, a culture that would make them adapt to their environment. Just like archaic Homo sapiens, Neanderthal came up with own tool which had similar purposes to archaic Homo sapiens tools. Their tools were known as Mousterian tools and tools were of higher quality compared to Oldowan tool and Acheulean tools used archaic Homo sapiens. The tools helped Neanderthal to access food because the hominins depended on hunting to survive. During hunting Neanderthals encountered large animals which caused some major consequences. That is why many Neanderthal fossils been found with significant injuries,