Neandertals And Anatomically Modern Humans In Europe

Investigators of human evolution have for more than a century been fascinated by Neandertals. Early investigators saw in Neandertal the quintessential ‘missing link’ between man and ape. They based this viewpoint on the comparatively robust and ‘primitive’ features displayed in Neandertal bones and on the use of stone tools that, in the absence of any technological context, appeared to be very crude. As the twentieth century advanced, ideas about Neandertal slowly changed. Evidence was amassed, a multitude of sites excavated, and many volumes of written work describing the lifeways of Neandertal emerged. Neandertal became the best known of our predecessors. Debates raged as to whether Neandertal was indeed a direct ancestor, whether Neandertal was a separate species from H. sapiens, and how and why Neandertals disappeared from the scene. In addition, researchers argued Neandertal’s physical and mental abilities including speech and social development. More recently an additional debate has arisen. Evidence suggests that Neandertal and early modern H. sapiens cohabited regions in Western Europe and perhaps elsewhere for thousands of years. In this paper I w

ill explore the timing and nature of this coexistence and models that could sustain it. In addition I will seek to understand the lack of evidence for exchange of knowledge, technology, goods, or culture. Finally, I hope to apply the above to the discussion of why Neandertal was displaced by H. sapiens sapiens.

A second model purports that Neandertals and modern humans were able to coexist by filling separate ecological niches. This could occur if each population primarily hunted particular game, or separate foraging preferences. Overlap of such niches would likely occur but to a limited degree. Both of the above-proposed models are difficult to support with the given bodies of evidence. However, Mellars notes that in

Neandertals and anatomically modern humans shared basic territory for perhaps 10,000 years. Although it is not entirely clear why this occurred, it seems possible that modern H. sapiens did not perceive neandertalensis as a threat. When food was plentiful there were herds enough for all. When food was scarce the more skilled hunters had an edge on the competition. The mystery, for me, is that these two people don’t appear to have had many interactions. I understand that the geographic areas involved are huge. However it seems to me that in 10,000 years there would be enough cumulative time that technological advances used by one population or the other could drift. Inter-breeding also seems a likely scenario. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of trading between the two peoples, or even warfare. This mystery will continue to fuel the imaginations of archaeologists until more evidence is uncovered. It seems fitting that one of our closest relatives in the past would be so well understood and yet so little understood.

Between 43,000 and 35,000 years BP, however, anatomically modern Homo sapiens sapiens began migrating from the east and southeast into Western Europe. Paul Mellars suggests that climatic changes could account, at least in part, for this migration. He states that ‘for populations who originated in the relatively temperate environments of the eastern Mediterranean zone or southwest Asia, any major episode of climatic amelioration would inevitably have made

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