Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.
"They demonstrate conclusively that there was never a Neanderthal stage in human evolution," F. Clark Howell, also from Berkeley and a co-author of the research papers, said in a statement.That sentence is so obviously unscientific that it is another exhibit in the case against the weird prejudice against Neandertal. There isn't anything that can be demonstrated conclusively on the topic of origins, even in the narrow little world of F. Clark Howell. Because of some skulls found in Ethiopia -- which the finders themselves say show some features found in living humans, but are not modern -- the complete ancestry of living humans obviously can't be determined. Berkeley is the place from which the mtDNA nonsense has bloomed -- the late Allan Wilson made many boneheaded claims, but the most flagrant may have been to attribute what he saw as the unique quality of speech and language to mtDNA.
This kind of talk is characteristic of the proponents of Replacement, which is steeped in bigotry and racism -- and always has been. Shreeve himself turns out to be an advocate of Replacement, which can be seen in semantic spin found throughout the book. Besides Replacement, the much-maligned "social Darwinism", like Darwinism itself, is likewise the product of an elitist society. Thomas Henry Huxley, "Darwin's Bulldog", while criticizing the idea that "Aryans" were a superior racial form, said:Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Western AsiaWestern Asia... has yielded some of the earliest remains of anatomically modern humans ever found -- as early, or maybe even earlier, than those found in sub-Saharan Africa. The puzzle over the relationship between Neanderthals and early modern humans in Western Asia begins with a skull from the Zuttiyeh site in Israel, from a period known as the Middle Paleolithic. The Zuttiyeh skull was associated with an early Middle Paleolithic industry, the Acheulo-Yabrudian. This industry at Zuttiyeh has been dated to as late as 148,000 years before the present, but other estimates place the Zuttiyeh skull as early as 200,000 to 250,000 B.P. The Acheulo-Yabrudian existed in the eastern Mediterranean, or Levant, before the appearance of the Mousterian -- another Middle Paleolithic industry associated with both early modern humans and a contemporaneous population with more archaic traits, whom most scholars identify as Neanderthals... These dates indicate that the Neanderthal and possibly modern remains from layer C, and also the Tabun C1 Neanderthal, are as old as, or perhaps even older than, early modern humans from other sites in Israel and from sub-Saharan Africa, dated to 80-120,000 B.P. If Neanderthal and modern types were both at Tabun before 100,000 B.P., this could back the idea that the Neanderthals and early modern humans of the Levant comprised a single indigenous population evolving toward a fully modern form.
by Scott J. BrownThe Neandertal Enigma"Allan Wilson had always been described to me in superlatives, such as 'one of the real geniuses in science,' or 'the most arrogant guy I know...' [H]e apologized for putting me off so long and bluntly explained that the reason he had done so was that he did not trust me... 'The anthropological perspective on evolution is no longer valid; it has been overthrown. And yet the science writers who insist on talking to me come drenched in an anthropological perspective, and there is really no point in talking to them... It is paralytic. It prevents you from asking certain questions, and it forces you to ask others. The whole discipline invites you not to investigate.'
by James Shreeve
...A few months before my visit, Wilson had announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science... that the Neandertals were replaced because they could not speak... suggesting that a particular gene for language might have been carried in the mitochondria themselves. Since invading males would have been more likely to mate with resident females than the other way around, the offspring of sexual contact between the two groups would be 'linguistically deaf-mute,' like their Neandertal mothers. Thus disadvantaged, these 'village idiots' would face the same fate as the mothers: extinction. Only the language-endowed African lineage would continue. The language gene idea, and especially the unfortunate term 'village idiots,' elicited hoots of derision from the anti-Eve camp, and gave no joy to Wilson's colleagues." [pp 119-121]
"Physical, mental, and moral peculiarities go with blood and not with language. In the United States the negroes have spoken English for generations; but no one on that ground would call them Englishmen, or expect them to differ physically, mentally, or morally from other negroes." [Erik Trinkaus, Pat Shipman, The Neandertals pp 46-47]The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
Perhaps but my ex-mother-in-law certainly was ;-)
Just kidding about the dentistry. What Rozzi is trying to prove is the *blind belief* that Neandertal was inferior and driven to extinction by our ancestors. IOW, it's more GIGO. If Rozzi were a dentist -- or for that matter, hadn't received his paleontology degree from the University of Disneyland -- he'd be aware of this:Neanderthals matured faster than humansA new study suggests that Neanderthal children blazed through adolescence and on average reached adulthood at age 15... [P]aleontologist Fernando V. Ramirez Rozzi... with the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, based his study on analysis of Neanderthal teeth... "It's a very exciting paper," said anthropologist Katerina Harvati of New York University. "Our current understanding of Neanderthals is that they're brutish and stupid, even though it turns out they have larger brains on average than ourselves"... For more than 100,000 years, Neanderthals roamed across a vast region from Spain to southern Russia and western Asia, overlapping with anatomically modern man for several thousand years... Harvati said their quick maturation rate may have been an adaptation to a harsh environment that decreased their life span and made it important for youngsters to reach sexual maturity quickly... Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis said he's skeptical of the research. Human growth varies widely within a population, he said. In fact, Rozzi's study includes some Neanderthal teeth that took as long to develop as modern human teeth. University of Illinois at Chicago anatomy professor Jay Kelley said he's also concerned about making conclusions based on what are essentially assumptions about Neanderthal tooth growth.
Associated Press
April 28, 2004
NOT A PING LIST, merely posted to: *Gods, Graves, Glyphs; *crevo_list; <1/1,000,000th%; A.J.Armitage; Agnes Heep; Alamo-Girl; Alas Babylon!; All; ArGee; abner; adam_az; agrace; alloysteel; ameribbean expat; antiRepublicrat; BlueLancer; biblewonk; blam; Calamari; CholeraJoe; CobaltBlue; Cowgirl; carpio; cookcounty; cyborg; DeepDish; Doctor Stochastic; edwin hubble; Frapster; farmfriend; Gerasimov; greenwolf; gunnedah; hopespringseternal; Ichneumon; Indrid Cold; Inyo-Mono; jennyp; js1138; Lazamataz; Little Bill; LogicWings; Lurking Libertarian; laredo44; longshadow; Mercat; Michael81Dus; Michael_Michaelangelo; Modernman; melsec; moonhawk; NukeMan; OXENinFLA; PatrickHenry; Pharmboy; Physicist; pabianice; pax_et_bonum; petuniasevan; qam1; RadioAstronomer; Restore; Revolting cat!; RightWhale; RightWingAtheist; RightWingNilla; realpatriot71; SauronOfMordor; SoCal Pubbie; Thumper1960; TMSuchman; techworker; thefactor; tpaine; ValerieUSA; Victoria Delsoul; Virginia-American; VOA; varon; visualops; Wacka; whattajoke; ZULUThe Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
All your genetics are belong to us!
This would agree with the Biblical account that gives strong evidence of an entire race of mankind existing and being completely extinguished before Adam arrived on the scene.
Neanderthals Revisited:
New Approaches and Perspectives
ed by Katerina Harvati
and Terry Harrison
