Neanderthals where re typically separated from other archaic Homo sapiens in various ways
One important thing I learned was that Neanderthals where re typically separated from other archaic Homo sapiens in various ways starting with geographical distribution, physical features, and culture and lifestyles. From this week’s reading, I found Neanderthals with a great connection with archaic Homo sapiens because the two hominins had almost similar patterns. I noted the major differences between them were the geographical distribution of their fossil. The geographic distribution of Neanderthals was very specific with the fossils if the hominins found in narrow latitude regions with the cold environment. The major parts in the world where you could get the remains of Neanderthals were Western Europe, the Middle East, and western Asia. Did I you know no Neanderthals fossil was found in Africa? It tells us that the environmental weather condition is different from that of Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
In terms of physical features, Neanderthals had extreme and robust versions of traits compared to archaic Homo sapiens. The brain of Neanderthals followed the same patterns to that of archaic Homo sapiens, namely enlargement of the cranial capacity. The Neanderthal brain size expanded and almost reached the range of archaic Homo sapiens brain size. Enlargement of the brain went hand in hand with an increase in the size of the skull. I noted that modern humans had brain size comparable to that of Neanderthals. The nose of Neanderthals was a bit different from that of archaic Homo sapiens. It was large with wide nasal aperture. The physical appearance of the nose allowed the hominins to adapt to the cold environment. It helped them to breathe a lot of warm air. This unique shape and size of the Neanderthal nose are referred to as midfacial prognathism. The hominins also had jutted jaws with oversized teeth.
The cultural lifestyle of Neanderthals was quite similar to archaic Homo sapiens because both innovated tools that helped them to hurt for food. We saw Homo erectus marked by the development of a bifacial tool and Acheulean handaxe tools. Similarly, Neanderthal had Mousterian tools that them to prey, removal of meat, and scavenging. The increase in their body and brain size, and also the innovation of more effective tools, made it possible to track predators and kill for food. By encountering big mammals, the hominins injured some parts of their body like the head and neck. The extensive injuries sustained by Neanderthals are evident in many fossil remains.