Ode to Our (Distant) Cousins
Your family of origin (BS - Before Shaving)
I've always been a tad more interested in the past than in the future. I went from digging holes in other people's backyards to getting a degree in archeology. It was easier (more natural) for me to get a mental picture of what was no longer here than to imagine what someday might be. And lately, I've been reading new information about our collective past that upends much of what I learned and corrects a wrong done to an entire species throughout my days at the university. So, I step up to defend the misunderstood and maligned Homo Neanderthalensis, once believed to have become extinct due to the far superior brain of our direct ancestors –Homo sapiens.
Indeed, images based on archeological finds in prehistoric Africa generally portray a jut-jawed close cousin to gorillas hoisting a club in one hand and dragging his knuckles on the ground with the other. (Female Neanderthals are never pictured, likely because they were occupied with gathering vegetable matter to keep the species alive).
Neanderthals arrived on the scene about 400,000 years ago – that's at least 5714 human lifetimes ago, and really doesn't seem that far back when you have a calculator on your iPhone. They had the ability to walk upright and supported large brains comparable to the size of ours. However, that didn't make them intellectual peers of Homo sapiens. Much of their brain was dedicated to physical survival and consumed a great deal of the body's energy. For example, our distant Neanderthal cousins had very large eyes. This was an adaptation to low light in their native environment - Europe and eastern Asia. Homo sapiens rose from Africa and sported smaller eyes due to the glaring sun. Neanderthal eyes required more processing from their brains – perhaps a brain drain that kept them from developing weapons of mass destruction that Homo sapiens accomplished eons later.
These two groups of hominids evolved separately – never sending carrier pigeons or smoke signals across the African continent to Eurasia to compare evolutionary tactics. For example, 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens were making fire – while it appears that Neanderthals used fire but never rubbed two sticks together.
For example, the use of fire for clearing, hunting, and (most significantly) cooking was evident in Homo sapien archeological sites. Tribes no longer had to eat raw bugs and plants that could sicken or kill. Cooked food took less energy to digest and put new items on the picnic table – such as healthy grains and plants that were undigestible as raw food. Prehistoric bodies and brains became stronger, ready to focus on survival skills. Firepower also became a tool to manage their environment.
But there's no evidence that Neanderthals made the same leap. They used fire when Mother Nature ignited grasslands and trees but never sparked a flame to smoke a cigar or start a bonfire for marshmallows. Khaki-wearing archeologists think that both the environment and physiology played a role. Fossil evidence shows that Neanderthals were short and stocky – meaning they were better adapted to European ice age climates.
Researchers are not sure just when Homo sapiens found the spark to purposely light fires, but evidence of fire use and control in Africa goes all the way back to Homo erectus (Upright Man), who may have been roasting wildebeest bacon 1.5 million years ago.
The entire process, from cooking over a fire to eating a wider range of plants and animals, also fed the brain and took the power of fire even further. Bands of early humans could make fire for hunting, clearing grounds, and protection. Furthermore, fire was an equal opportunity tool – not limited to hairy men with bulging biceps. And most importantly, fire as a tool also nourished a hungry brain that was made to adapt and invent.
Through all these innovations, researchers say that Homo sapiens surged faster and further than did Neanderthals (or their Asian equivalent, the Denisovans ). Those groups of hominids also had to put forth significantly more effort toward basic survival. Consequently, they had no impetus to be engaged in social interactions, like a game of rummy or dice, that didn't provide practical benefits.
That said, there is also evidence that we've underestimated Neanderthals as survivors and contributors to the gene pool as we know it today. About 70,000 years ago, groups of Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa into southern Europe and beyond. Archeologists found evidence of interaction between those pioneers and Neanderthals, and why not? Neanderthals lived and moved together in allied groups, hunted game, gathered food, used tools and fire – bringing to mind the old song – "We got something in common." And, yes, experts say the two groups developed (very) close relationships. We can scream in horror and denial, but Neanderthal genes appear in modern populations. It isn't present in remarkable percentages (with some rare exceptions you? might personally know) – usually appearing at less than two percent of a human's genetic map. I think this accounts for some of what we're seeing in global politics today. (Full disclosure – I have 1.2 percent Neanderthal DNA according to 23 and Me. I'm pretty sure that explains one of my marriages).
If it's any comfort, archeologists and anthropologists assure us that Neanderthals were not stereotyped drooling, knuckle-dragging oafs with hairy palms. They were, in fact, engaged in some very human activities such as painting their faces, foraging nature to develop early versions of medicines, and producing impressive cave paintings. And, oh yeah, their brains were actually larger than ours.
Fossil finding experts of the digital age theorize it was predominantly one human superpower that led to the extinction of Neanderthals just 40,000 years ago. It was humankind's ability to make and harness the power of fire. From that technology, Homo sapiens out-innovated all other hominid groups to dominate our ancestral planet with war and peace, religions, music, medicine, and politics (not all evolutionary side effects are beneficial).
Thanks for letting me share my (sometimes silly) thoughts with you. Many of my readers will recall I’ve been complaining about endless snow and rain for nearly 2 months - so I won’t do that again… because it’s snowing. Again. Hope you all are safe, healthy, and smiling. Let me know your thoughts at darby@darbypatterson.com . And check out my big sculpture project and writing life at darby.patterson.com.