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Keyword: neandertals

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  • Neanderthals used glue to make stone tools 40,000 years ago, a new study suggests “Earliest evidence of a multi-component adhesive in Europe”

    02/22/2024 3:10:28 AM PST · by Red Badger · 29 replies
    Arkeonews ^ | 22 February 2024 | By Leman Altuntaş
    Cover Photo: An artist’s reconstruction shows how a Neanderthal could hold a stone artifact with an adhesive handle. Daniela Greiner ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More than 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals in what is now France used a multi-component adhesive to make handles for stone tools. They produced a sophisticated mixture of ochre and bitumen, two raw materials that had to be procured from the wider region. This is the earliest discovery of a multi-component adhesive in Europe to date. This complex adhesive found on Neanderthal stone tools has given researchers new insights into the intelligence of this extinct human species. The work, reported...
  • Homo Sapiens Arriving in Northern Europe Over 45,000 Years Ago Encountered This Enigmatic Human Species

    02/05/2024 4:42:43 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 34 replies
    The Debrief ^ | February 1, 2024 | Christopher Plain
    "The Ranis cave site provides evidence for the first dispersal of Homo sapiens across the higher latitudes of Europe. It turns out that stone artifacts that were thought to be produced by Neanderthals were, in fact, part of the early Homo sapiens toolkit," said Jean-Jacque Hublin, a professor at the Collège de France in Paris and the former director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology where Zavala first began this work. "This fundamentally changes our previous knowledge about the period: Homo sapiens reached northwestern Europe long before Neanderthal disappearance in southwestern Europe."
  • Straight-Tusked Elephant Exploitation Was Widespread among Neanderthals, Archaeologists Say

    01/01/2024 1:12:05 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 25 replies
    Science News ^ | December 7, 2023 | News Staff
    Straight-tusked elephants were the largest land mammals of the Pleistocene epoch, present in Europe and western Asia between 800,000 and 100,000 years ago.These animals had a very wide head and extremely long tusks, and were roughly three times larger than that of living Asian elephants, twice that of African ones, and also much larger than woolly mammoths.Estimates of maximum shoulder height vary from 3 to 4.2 m (10-14 feet) and body mass from 4.5 to 13 tons for females and males, respectively."We have estimated that the meat and fat supplied by the body of an adult Palaeoloxodon antiquus bull would...
  • Are You a Morning Person? You Might Want to Thank Your Neanderthal Genes

    12/14/2023 9:00:51 AM PST · by billorites · 28 replies
    Wall Street Journal ^ | December 14. 2023 | Aylin Woodward
    Whether you’re a morning person has long been tied to personality, but new research suggests DNA inherited from our extinct Neanderthal cousins ups the chance we’re early risers. Our circadian rhythms—the biological clocks inside our cells that time when we sleep and wake—are linked to countless genes. Now researchers say they have found that bits of genetic code passed down to some of us from Neanderthals relate to our sleeping habits in the present day. The study was published Thursday in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. “We’ve found many Neanderthal variants that consistently associate with a propensity for being...
  • Scientists finally solve mystery of why Europeans have less Neanderthal DNA than East Asians

    10/26/2023 11:05:47 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 30 replies
    Live Science ^ | October 18, 2023 | Stephanie Pappas
    Modern Europeans have a smaller proportion of Neanderthal genes in their genomes than East Asians do. New research suggests the reason lies at the feet of migrating early farmers.A wave of migrating farmers from the ancient Middle East may be the reason why modern Europeans don't carry as much Neanderthal DNA as today's East Asians do, a new study finds.All humans with ancestry from outside of Africa have a little bit of Neanderthal in them — about 2% of the genome, on average. But people with East Asian ancestry have between 8% and 24% more Neanderthal genes than people of...
  • Neanderthal cuisine: Excavations reveal Neanderthals were as intelligent as Homo sapiens

    10/22/2023 10:17:10 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 35 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | October 13, 2023 | University of Trento
    The oldest layers of the Gruta de Oliveira, which includes a number of passages, date back to about 120,000 years ago, the most recent to about 40,000: It is believed that Neanderthals inhabited this place between 100,000 and 70,000 years ago...In this case however, what caught the attention of archaeologists were the traces of hearths intentionally built and used in the cave. The archaeologists found about a dozen hearths at various stratigraphic levels in an excavation area of about 30 square meters and six meters deep. The unmistakable basin-like, circular structures were filled with remains.Findings from inside and near the...
  • New path for early human migrations through a once-lush Arabia contradicts a single 'out of Africa' origin

    10/09/2023 6:17:42 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 22 replies
    The Conversation ^ | October 4, 2023 | Michael Petraglia, Mahmoud Abbas, Zhongping Lai
    ...we find the now inhospitable and hyper-arid zone of the southern Jordan Rift Valley was frequently lush and well-watered in the past.Our evidence suggests this valley had a riverine and wetland zone that would have provided ideal passage... out of Africa and deep into the Levant and Arabia...Our findings from sedimentary sections ranging 5 to 12 metres in thickness showed ecosystem fluctuations over time, including cycles of dry and humid environments. We also found evidence for the presence of ancient rivers and wetlands.Luminescence dating showed the sedimentary environments formed between 125,000 and 43,000 years ago, suggesting there had been multiple...
  • People with Neanderthal genes are TWICE as likely to develop a life-threatening form of Covid ... here's how you can check if you've got them

    09/18/2023 6:14:01 PM PDT · by Libloather · 32 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 9/18/23 | Stacy Liberatore
    They used to live in caves, hunt their food and were generally tougher than modern-day humans. But a new study finds if you have Neanderthal genes, you are twice as likely to develop a life-threatening form of Covid. DNA from the species that went extinct around 40,000 years ago is associated with autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer. A team of Italian researchers found people with three Neanderthal gene variations were twice as likely to have severe pneumonia and three times as likely to be hospitalized with a ventilator after contracting the virus. While the findings were part...
  • Back to the future: The advantage of studying key events in human evolution using a new high resolution radiocarbon method

    04/17/2023 3:56:33 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 14 replies
    PLOS One ^ | February 15, 2023 | Sahra Talamo, Bernd Kromer, Michael P. Richards, Lukas Wacker
    Radiocarbon dating is the most widely applied dating method in archaeology, especially in human evolution studies, where it is used to determine the chronology of key events, such as the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in Europe. However, the method does not always provide precise and accurate enough ages to understand the important processes of human evolution. Here we review the newest method developments in radiocarbon dating ('Radiocarbon 3.0'), which can lead us to much better chronologies and understanding of the major events in recent human evolution. As an example, we apply these new methods to discuss the dating...
  • See stunning likeness of Zlatý kůň, the oldest modern human to be genetically sequenced News

    08/01/2023 6:43:57 AM PDT · by SJackson · 33 replies
    Live Science ^ | 7-31-23 | Jennifer Nalewicki
    Researchers created a facial approximation of a 45,000-year-old individual who is believed to be the oldest anatomically modern human ever to be genetically sequenced. In 1950, archaeologists discovered a severed skull buried deep inside a cave system in Czechia (the Czech Republic). Because the skull was split in half, researchers concluded that the skeletal remains were of two separate individuals. However, through genome sequencing done decades later, scientists concluded that the skull actually belonged to a single person: a woman who lived 45,000 years ago. Researchers named her the Zlatý kůň woman, or "golden horse" in Czech, in a nod...
  • 300,000-year-old double-pointed stick among oldest record of human-made wooden tools

    07/23/2023 7:26:52 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 17 replies
    Cosmos magazine ^ | July 20, 2023 | Evrim Yazgin
    Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest large collection of wooden tools made by humans at a site in Schöningen, Germany. The artefacts date back to about 300,000 years ago.Included in what ancient people left behind are wooden spears and shorter throwing sticks that have been sharpened at both ends. It is unclear exactly which hominin is responsible for producing the tools, but their age suggests either Homo heidelbergensis or Homo neanderthalensis...The 300,000-year-old tools found at Schöningen were analysed using micro-CT scanning, 3D microscopy and infrared spectroscopy to better understand how they were made and their potential uses. The results are published...
  • New evidence of plant food processing in Italy during Neanderthal-to-Homo sapiens period

    07/07/2023 11:02:16 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | June 29, 2023 | University of Montreal
    Long before the invention of agriculture, humans already knew how to process cereals and other wild plants into a flour suitable for food—and now there's new evidence they did so long before scientists was previously thought.Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, an Italian-led study of five ancient grindstones from around 39,000 to 43,000 years ago shows that milling for food dates back to the transitional period between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens...The Neanderthal-to-Homo sapiens period was characterized by the coexistence of the Late Mousterian (Neanderthal), Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian (H. sapiens) techno-complexes in the northwest and southwest of present-day Italy.The grindstones come from...
  • Oldest Neanderthal cave engravings ever are discovered in France — and they date back 75,000 Years

    06/22/2023 10:16:45 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 24 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | Thursday, June 22, 2023 | Xantha Leatham
    A team from the University of Tours analyzed marks found on a wall in La Roche-Cotard cave in the French region of Centre-Val de Loire.Based on these engravings' shape, spacing and arrangement, the team concluded they were deliberate, organized and intentional shapes created by Neanderthal fingers drawing making indents on a soft surface.By analyzing sediment found at the site, they worked out that the cave had become closed off around 57,000 years ago as rocks and debris filled it up.Writing in the journal Plos One, the team said this dates the 'finger fluting' to well before Homo sapiens became established...
  • Study finds Neanderthals manufactured synthetic material with underground distillation

    06/10/2023 3:34:59 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 27 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | May 30, 2023 | Justin Jackson
    Researchers at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and colleagues in Germany have taken a closer look at the birch tar used to affix Neanderthal tools and found a much more complex technique for creating the adhesive than previously considered... the team compared different methods of creating birch tar to the chemical residues found on ancient Neanderthal tools....The birch tar used by Neanderthals predates any known adaptation by modern humans by 100,000 years. The sticky material was used as an adhesive backing to connect stone to bone and wood in tools and weapons, with the added benefit of being water-resistant...
  • Despite the dangers, early humans risked life-threatening flintknapping injuries

    06/09/2023 9:29:58 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 24 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | May 25, 2023 | Kent State University
    Every day, hundreds of stone artifact enthusiasts around the world sit down and begin striking a stone with special tools attempting to craft the perfect arrowhead or knife. This craft is known as flintknapping, and for most, it is a skilled hobby or art form that was thought to occasionally require bandages or stitches.However, new research suggests flintknapping is far more dangerous than previously understood. And for early humans who were without the modern conveniences of hospitals, antibiotics, treated water and band-aids, a more severe cut could get infected and be life-threatening...They found Nicholas Gala, at the time a Kent...
  • Seeing the 'Invisible Humans' of Archaeology Through the Gunk on Their Teeth

    05/21/2023 9:54:30 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 17 replies
    Haaretz ^ | May 21, 2023 | Ruth Schuster
    Like the teeth themselves, under the right conditions the gunk on your teeth may survive not just thousands but millions of years in the grave. Isn't that good to know.Advanced dental decay and plaque buildup have been detected in Dryopithecus carinthiacus, a primate that lived in Europe 12.5 million years ago, suggesting it doted on high-sugar fruit. Sivapithecus sivalensis, who lived between 9.3 to 8.7 million years ago in Pakistan, was also apparently frugivorous. Analysis of ancient plaque has shed light on the mobility of Neanderthals and other hominins, as implied by dietary changes, and shored up the thesis that...
  • Nose shape gene inherited from Neanderthals

    05/10/2023 11:47:23 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 36 replies
    University College London ^ | May 9, 2023 | Media contact: Chris Lane
    Humans inherited genetic material from Neanderthals that affects the shape of our noses, finds a new study led by UCL researchers...The researchers newly identified 33 genome regions associated with face shape, 26 of which they were able to replicate in comparisons with data from other ethnicities using participants in east Asia, Europe, or Africa.In one genome region in particular, called ATF3, the researchers found that many people in their study with Native American ancestry (as well as others with east Asian ancestry from another cohort) had genetic material in this gene that was inherited from the Neanderthals, contributing to increased...
  • New clues to the behavioral variability of Neanderthal hunting parties

    04/11/2023 9:10:03 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    A recent study looks at the spatial organization of a Neanderthal hunting camp at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site in Pinilla del Valle (Madrid), and concludes that these groups employed different models of occupation of the space to fit their needs.Abel Moclán, a predoctoral researcher attached to the Universidad de Burgos (UBU), the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), and the Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), is the lead author of a paper published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, which undertakes a spatial analysis of the faunal remains and lithic tools for the Neanderthal...
  • Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another 'nail in the coffin' for primitive cave dweller stereotypes

    02/12/2023 10:09:33 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 53 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | February 7, 2023 | Frontiers
    In a cave just south of Lisbon, archaeological deposits conceal a Paleolithic dinner menu. As well as stone tools and charcoal, the site of Gruta de Figueira Brava contains rich deposits of shells and bones with much to tell us about the Neanderthals that lived there—especially about their meals. A study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology shows that 90,000 years ago, these Neanderthals were cooking and eating crabs...A wide variety of shellfish remains were found in the archaeological remains Nabais and her colleagues studied, but the shellfish in the undisturbed Paleolithic deposits are overwhelmingly represented by brown crabs. Their...
  • Neanderthals lived in groups big enough to eat giant elephants

    02/08/2023 10:08:41 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 54 replies
    Science ^ | February 1, 2023 | Andrew Curry
    On the muddy shores of a lake in east-central Germany, Neanderthals gathered some 125,000 years ago to butcher massive elephants. With sharp stone tools, they harvested up to 4 tons of flesh from each animal, according to a new study that is casting these ancient human relatives in a new light. The degree of organization required to carry out the butchery—and the sheer quantity of food it provided—suggests Neanderthals could form much larger social groups than previously thought.The find comes from a trove of animal bones and stone tools uncovered in the 1980s by coal miners near the town of...