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Neanderthals Take Out Their Small Blades
Science News ^ | 5-16-2006 | Bruce Bower

Posted on 05/16/2006 12:51:33 PM PDT by blam

Neandertals take out their small blades

Bruce Bower

From San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Paleoanthropology Society and Society for American Archaeology meeting

Excavations of Neandertal artifacts at two caves in northern Spain have yielded an unexpected discovery—a trove of thin, double-edged stone blades that researchers usually regard as the work of Stone Age people who lived much later.

In 2005, Federico Bernaldo de Quiros of the University of Léon in Spain and his coworkers unearthed small stone blades, which they called bladelets, lying amid larger, characteristic Neandertal stone implements in a cave called El Castillo. All the finds came from sediment that had previously been dated to 47,000 to 42,000 years ago. Later, the researchers found nearly identical bladelets in soil at another cave, Cueva Morin, which also contains 50,000-year-old Neandertal tools.

At both caves, Neandertals fashioned bladelets in a series of stone-cutting operations similar to those employed by Homo sapiens several thousand years later, Bernaldo de Quiros now proposes.

Similar breaks near the base of many Neandertal bladelets indicate that the implements were attached to handles of some kind, the Spanish investigator says.

The finds suggest that Neandertals were the intellectual equals of H. sapiens, at least in toolmaking, Bernaldo de Quiros says. Neandertals may have been nudged into the bladelet business by northern Spain's poor-quality rock, which is best suited for producing small tools.

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TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: blades; crevolist; godsgravesglyphs; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; out; small; take; their
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To: blam
We Are Neanderthals.

I was working in a retail store 25 years ago in the LA area where I saw the ugliest woman and her son. They were short in stature, massive hands, huge foreheads, giant jaws, hair everywhere. At the time I told myself, surely this is what Neanderthals looked like.

When I see people like that I am convinced that there definitely are Neanderthal genes on our population.

21 posted on 05/16/2006 1:23:39 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: Ditto
Was it the "erectus" or the "homo" part that caused her to leave?

Let's see how this can be said in a respectable and scientific manner.

The "erectus" and the "homo" became dependant on one another and she made the other guy move out first.

22 posted on 05/16/2006 1:24:01 PM PDT by capt. norm (W.C. Fields: "Hollywood is the gold cap on a tooth that should have been pulled out years ago.")
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To: blam
We Are Neanderthals.

Early Basques?

23 posted on 05/16/2006 1:35:45 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Proud soldier in the American Army of Occupation..)
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To: MeanWestTexan
The blades were for spreading the mango salsa, of course.

Every time I see that commercial I start thinking about that roast duck and drooling.

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

24 posted on 05/16/2006 1:43:03 PM PDT by capt. norm (W.C. Fields: "Hollywood is the gold cap on a tooth that should have been pulled out years ago.")
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To: capt. norm
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

HR holds nose and runs screaming into the street....

25 posted on 05/16/2006 1:45:58 PM PDT by hispanarepublicana (Don't fall for the soft bigotry of assuming all Hispanics are pro-amnesty. www.dontspeakforme.org)
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To: ElkGroveDan
Current Russian Heavyweight Boxing Champ or Missing Link?



You make the Call....

Cheers,

knewshound

Coming soon to a City near you !

26 posted on 05/16/2006 1:57:43 PM PDT by knews_hound (Driving Liberals nuts since 1975 !)
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To: Red Badger
Women Neanderthals shaved their legs.

I think that puts them ahead of Hillary...from what I've read.

27 posted on 05/16/2006 2:00:55 PM PDT by capt. norm (W.C. Fields: "Hollywood is the gold cap on a tooth that should have been pulled out years ago.")
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To: blam

They just better not try to carry them onto an airplane.


28 posted on 05/16/2006 2:02:17 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: ElkGroveDan
who u calling ugly?

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

29 posted on 05/16/2006 2:04:36 PM PDT by Dick Vomer (liberals suck......... but it depends on what your definition of the word "suck" is.)
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To: blam

I'm just glad the last word in the headline was 'Blades'.


30 posted on 05/16/2006 2:06:41 PM PDT by rattrap
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To: blam
"The finds suggest that Neandertals were the intellectual equals of H. sapiens, at least in toolmaking,"

You people are just so incredibly condescending.


31 posted on 05/16/2006 2:07:56 PM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: blam

They're going to find stuff like this when they excavate my husband's basement workshop!


32 posted on 05/16/2006 2:26:45 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: ClearCase_guy
Scientists are always so pround of finding out how wrong they were last time.

Good thing, too. Got to love the learning process - without it the last human being would have ended his life several million years in some hyena's stomach.
33 posted on 05/16/2006 2:30:31 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: afraidfortherepublic
They're going to find stuff like this when they excavate my husband's basement workshop!

You just reminded me of my basement "laboratory" back when I was in high school. I was gung-ho chemistry and often spent entire weekends working on projects. Never did really blow anything up, I was mostly working with electrolytes and active metals.

34 posted on 05/16/2006 2:42:43 PM PDT by capt. norm (W.C. Fields: "Hollywood is the gold cap on a tooth that should have been pulled out years ago.")
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To: blam

I think that the brain size of Neanderthal, on the average, was larger than that of H. Sapien. Check it out, and consider the consequence.


35 posted on 05/16/2006 2:49:13 PM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine (An old sailor sends)
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To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; ...
Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

36 posted on 05/16/2006 10:49:01 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam
At both caves, Neandertals fashioned bladelets in a series of stone-cutting operations similar to those employed by Homo sapiens several thousand years later, Bernaldo de Quiros now proposes.
This reminds me of something from last year, regarding the age of some art that had to be Neandertal in origin when a better technique pushed back the date. Gee, I wonder what kind of ad hoc fallback position will be concocted by the "Neanderthals [sic] went extinct because they were inferior" wank-jobs?
37 posted on 05/16/2006 10:59:44 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam

I always wondered why the theory that Neanderthals were so very backward and stupid.


38 posted on 05/17/2006 5:18:47 AM PDT by Dustbunny (The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Scientists are always so pround of finding out how wrong they were last time. They consider it marching forward with the latest and greatest information. I call it: Finding out your last guess wasn't right either.

I suppose you can't simply think of scientists in any other way then a hive mind collective? Who says this theory was devised by the same scientist who came up with the previous held theory? Scientists are fond of improvement, unlike some people who merely desire dogma.
39 posted on 05/18/2006 12:11:07 AM PDT by S0122017
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To: Citizen Tom Paine
I think that the brain size of Neanderthal, on the average, was larger than that of H. Sapien. Check it out, and consider the consequence.

Their brains where larger, but studies point out that among modern humans, brains sizes have only a little effect on intelligent. Ofcourse the brains of neanderthals where a lot larger, but quality can't be discerned from fossils.

In any case, it is possible that their huge brains caused them to sit on a rock thinking all day while the stupid retarted homo sapiens spent their days procreating and killing anything in sight :) That would be a case where there is a evolutionary benefit to being stupid.
40 posted on 05/18/2006 12:17:07 AM PDT by S0122017
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