Volcanoes Killed Off Neanderthals, Study Suggests

National Geographic News ^ | September 22, 2010 | Ker Than

[SunkenCiv]

The Neanderthals were a hardy species that lived through multiple ice ages and would have been familiar with volcanoes and other natural calamities. But the eruptions 40,000 years ago were unlike anything Neanderthals had faced before, Cleghorn and company say. For one thing, all the volcanoes apparently erupted around the same time. And one of those blasts, the Campanian Ignimbrite, is thought to have been the most powerful eruption in Europe in the last 200,000 years... The researchers acknowledge that there are gaps in the volcanoes theory. For instance, the time line needs to be better defined -- did the volcanic eruptions occur in a period of months, years, or decades? ...It's also unknown exactly how long it took the Neanderthals to die out -- or how long after the eruptions modern humans began settling Europe in force, she said... [adding] modern human populations living in Europe 40,000 years ago were small and isolated, and only after the Neanderthals were gone did Homo sapiens populations explode. "If modern humans were making any forays into European Neanderthal territory prior to this, they were doing it only on the very margins," Cleghorn said.

Female Neanderthal skull -- Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic

[SunkenCiv]

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
in local libraries

Frayer'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]

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

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[SunkenCiv]

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[Dallas59]

One’s still alive in the White House....and it has a mate.

[Perdogg]

According to the History channel it was the Cro-magnons that killed off the Neanderthals.

[nickcarraway]

Can we sue?

[ClearCase_guy]

The researchers acknowledge that there are gaps in the volcanoes theory. For instance, the time line needs to be better defined -- did the volcanic eruptions occur in a period of months, years, or decades? ...It's also unknown exactly how long it took the Neanderthals to die out -- or how long after the eruptions modern humans began settling Europe in force, she said.

What caused "all the volcanoes" to erupt "around the same time"? We don't know.
What's the timeline for this event? We don't know.
How long did it take them to die out? We don't know.
How did this effect human settlements? We don't know.

Why are you publishing such an empty paper? Hey, I'm looking for tenure, man.

[doc1019]

Amen!

[bigheadfred]

If it WAS the resultant climate change that killed off THOSE neandertals...hmmm...maybe I should change my view on the current climate change...

[PistolPaknMama]

According to the History channel it was the Cro-magnons that killed off the Neanderthals.

That's because Cro-Magnons evolved into the racist Conservatis TeaBaggitus. Just wait till the History [sic] channel spins its revision on what killed off the Obammy administration.

[bigheadfred]

What really Killed Off Neanderthals...Publish or Die!

[Dallas59]

[mike-zed]

I think we all know that this is BS. GWB killed off the Neanderthals.

[djf]

Baloney.

It was bedbugs.
BIG bedbugs!

[mosesdapoet]

I see these comparisons of 5,000 years , 4,000 years etc. What baffles me the indiginous natives of Australia have been reported to go back 40,000 years.If not. Just how long has this group been living there ? How did they get there ? Where did they come from ?

[Gondring]

There are a lot of weird things in this pre-publication reporting. It will be interesting to see how much is NatGeo's poor reporting and how much is the actual study. It will also be interesting to see who is doing their geology and palynology. I'm not really confident in it, from what I read here.

And why the volcanic eruptions? Gee...maybe

[Gondring]

ping

[Bernard Marx]

Sad was the day that “scientists” discovered the popular media — or was it the other way around? Things have never been the same since.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Can we sue?

Reparations! We need reparations! Those damn volcanoes suppressed us!