Late Neandertals of Russia's North

Dienekes' Anthropology Blog ^ | 12 May 2011 | Dienekes' Anthropology blog

[Palter]

Ah, the irony! Right after a paper on Neandertal extinction c. 40,000 years ago, we now get a paper about Neandertal survival as late as 31,000 years ago in Russia's north. The two are not entirely incompatible, however, as Neandertals could very well have survived in the periphery of the sapiens range later than in its center.

To give an analogy with the more recent spread of agriculturalists, it is precisely in northern Eurasia, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Central/South Africa, i.e., areas distant from the primary centers of plant and animal domestication that relic pre-farming groups have survived.

It is highly unlikely that modern humans were that far north this early after their appearance across Eurasia, so we must probably discount the possibility (entertained by some) that Mousterian tools are not equal to Neandertals. It would be wonderful if actual Neandertal bones were ever recovered from that general area, as its latitude might be ideal for DNA preservation.

Science 13 May 2011: Vol. 332 no. 6031 pp. 841-845 DOI: 10.1126/science.1203866

Late Mousterian Persistence near the Arctic Circle

Ludovic Slimak et al.

Palaeolithic sites in Russian high latitudes have been considered as Upper Palaeolithic and thus representing an Arctic expansion of modern humans. Here we show that at Byzovaya, in the western foothills of the Polar Urals, the technological structure of the lithic assemblage makes it directly comparable with Mousterian Middle Palaeolithic industries that so far have been exclusively attributed to the Neandertal populations in Europe. Radiocarbon and optical-stimulated luminescence dates on bones and sand grains indicate that the site was occupied during a short period around 28,500 carbon-14 years before the present (about 31,000 to 34,000 calendar years ago), at the time when only Upper Palaeolithic cultures occupied lower latitudes of Eurasia. Byzovaya may thus represent a late northern refuge for Neandertals, about 1000 km north of earlier known Mousterian sites.

Link

[Palter]

Stone Age cold case baffles scientists

[Palter]

Ping. Busy week for geico.

[taillightchaser]

I think we have one of these in the white hut.

[MissMack99]

I used to work with a couple of Russian Neanderthals.

[Inyo-Mono]

I think that some day, we will stumble on information that Neanderthals survived much, much later than 30,000 years ago, much like the amazing Hobbit discovery a few years ago.

[blam]

Minatogawa People (An Asian Neanderthal?)

All the physical characteristics used to describe Neanderthals are still present in humans worldwide today.
As an example, some Australian Aboriginies have more severe brow ridges than did Neanderthals.

[Jonty30]

I don’t really understand how Neanterdals aren’t considered human, but we can breed with them. About the only difference between the two is skull shape.

If you look at African skulls, or Asian skulls or Caucasion skulls, they also differ in shape, but I don’t think anybody here question that Africans or Asians or Caucasions are not human.

Everything else between the two groups are identical or very nearly so.

[Olog-hai]

I remember a Neanderthal face being reconstructed on a skull in the same manner as forensic labs do. Looks like a human with a large nose and low forehead, just like in the thumbnail that hopefully links here. Neanderthal women even used makeup and jewelry. (There are still pseudoscientists that like to depict them as chimpanzee-like, though.)

[Jonty30]

Oh baby,

You know what I like!

[blam]

"I think that some day, we will stumble on information that Neanderthals survived much, much later than 30,000 years ago, much like the amazing Hobbit discovery a few years ago. "

Yup.

Many do not know that we recently (last year) found a whole new human in Siberia.

New Type of Ancient Human Found—Descendants Live Today?

"Evolution's "new twist": Neanderthal-like "sister group" bred with humans like us."

[MissMack99]

30,000 years isn’t that long ago. Maybe they were wiped out by the muzzies.

[blam]

"I don’t really understand how Neanterdals aren’t considered human, but we can breed with them."

They are considered human. There were many different humans that are now extinct.

The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived

[Jonty30]

I am familiar that one theory states that Neantherdals needed for more energy to do the same job and that because they only hunted the biggest game, which required extensive travel, they were also less efficient at reproducing themselves.

[blam]

I’ve read that their bones look like those of modern day rodeo riders. They are believed to have been in close combat with their large animals of prey and were often injured/killed, broken bones galore.

[Jonty30]

The average strength of these guys were about 30 percent stronger than our best decathalete.

Not somebody you want to get into an argument with.

[cunning_fish]

Klitschko the boxers?:)

[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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[patton]

My high-school track coach, who, ironically, is on a couple of local boards with me now, used to call me “disco-rilla.”

He said I ran like a gorilla trying to disco.

But I won. ;)

[CholeraJoe]

Neanderthals survived much later than 31,000BC. Read Beowulf. Michael Crichton had it right in “13th Warrior.”