Neanderthal - Name and classification

The Neanderthal or Neandertal was a species of Homo (Homo neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago, during the Middle Paleolithic period. Neanderthals were adapted to the cold, as shown by their large braincases, short but robust builds, and large noses — traits selected by nature in cold climates, as observed in modern sub-arctic populations. Their brains were roughly ten percent larger than those of modern humans. On average, Neanderthal males stood about 1.65m tall (just under 5' 6") and were heavily b ...

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• Neanderthal - Name and classification
• Neanderthal - Discovery
• Neanderthal - Physical traits
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The term "Neanderthal Man" was coined in 1863 by Irish anatomist William King. Neanderthal is now spelled two ways: The spelling of the German word Thal, meaning "valley or dale", was changed to Tal in the early 20th century, but the former spelling is often retained in English and always in scientific names, while the modern spelling is used in German. The Neanderthal or "Neander valley" was named after theologian Joachim N ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

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Popular Literature has tended to greatly exaggerate the ape-like gait and related characteristics of the Neanderthals. It has been determined that some of the earliest specimens found in fact suffered from severe arthritis. The Neanderthals were fully bipedal and had a slightly larger average brain capacity than a typical modern human, though it is thought the brain structure was organised differently. In popular idiom the word Neanderthal is sometimes used as an insult, to suggest that a person combines a deficiency of intelligence a ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

Read more here: » Neanderthal: Encyclopedia II - Neanderthal - Popular culture

Neanderthal (Middle Paleolithic) archeological sites show both a smaller and a less flexible toolkit than in the Upper Paleolithic sites, occupied by modern humans that replaced them. There is little evidence that Neanderthals used antlers, shell, or other bone materials to make tools: their bone industry was relatively simple. However, there is good evidence that they routinely constructed a variety of stone implements. The Neanderthal (Mousterian) tool case consisted of sophisticated stone-flakes, task-specific hand axes, and spears. ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

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The following is a list of physical traits that distinguish Neanderthals from modern humans; however, not all of them can be used to distinguish specific Neanderthal populations, from various geographic areas or periods of evolution, from other extinct humans. Also, many of these traits occasionally manifest in modern humans, particularly among certain ethnic groups. Nothing is known about the skin color, the hair, or the shape of soft part ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

Read more here: » Neanderthal: Encyclopedia II - Neanderthal - Physical traits

A Neanderthal skull was first discovered in Forbes' Quarry, Gibraltar in 1848, eight years prior to the "original" discovery in a limestone quarry of the Neander Valley (near Düsseldorf) in August, 1856, three years before Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published. The type specimen, dubbed Neanderthal 1, consisted of a skull cap, two femora, three bones from the right arm, two from the left arm, part of the left ilium, fragments of a scapula, and ribs. The workers who recovered this material originally thought i ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

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The theory that Neanderthals lacked complex language was widespread until 1983, when a Neanderthal hyoid bone was found at the Kebara Cave in Israel. The bone that was found is virtually identical to that of modern humans. The hyoid is a small bone that holds the root of the tongue in place, a requirement to human speech and, therefore, its presence seems to imply some ability to speak. Many people believe that even without the hyoid bone evidence, it is obvious that tools as advanced as those of the Mousterian Era, attributed to Neanderthals, could not have been developed without cognitive skills en ...

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Neanderthal, Neanderthal - Name and classification, Neanderthal - Discovery, Neanderthal - Physical traits, Neanderthal - Language, Neanderthal - Tools, Neanderthal - Key dates, Neanderthal - Popular culture

Read more here: » Neanderthal: Encyclopedia II - Neanderthal - Language