Neanderthals Were Smart, Researchers Say
Neanderthals vanished from Europe more than 28000 years ago, but they lived alongside Homo sapiens for more than 10000 years.
There are no clear answers to why they vanished. For many years the explanations were reduced to Homo sapiens were more intelligent and more advanced than Neanderthals and they survived by producing better tools.
New research shows that the Neanderthals were as skilled tools craftsmen as the Homo sapiens.
According to Metin Eren
“It is time for archaeologists to start searching for other reasons why Neanderthals became extinct while our ancestors survived. Technologically speaking, there is no clear advantage of one tool over the other. When we think of Neanderthals, we need to stop thinking in terms of ’stupid’ or ‘less advanced’ and more in terms of ‘different.’”
Indeed, according to research conducted by a team of archaeologists from the University of Exeter, Southern Methodist University, Texas State University and the Think Computer Corporation, the tools used by Homo sapiens were not more efficient than the tools used by Neanderthals. What’s even more surprising is that in some aspects the Neanderthals’ tools proved to be more efficient.
Now researchers need to answer to why Homo sapiens switched from the tools used by Neanderthals to a different technology as well as to find the answer to why did the Neanderthals actually died?
Related story: Neanderthals Matched Brawn With Brains
"Oculocutaneous albinism type 2" -
I'll cross the Ts and dot the......lower case Js 
Tom,
Great observation re Native Americans disease pattern comparison. There's at least one other macro-dynamic sapien advantage which must have driven ...
Yeah, Lorie Velarde has some strange ideas! 
"don't have enough crimes" well when would you have enough crimes? when everyone is dead? 
Well if we eliminate: 1) technological advantage [except for Sapien Mother's sewing needles]; 2)linguistic advantage (saying "uuuu" THAT important?!?!); & ...
Comment by Oggert on 27 August 2008:
Is this another put down on cave man ? I’m sick and being thought of as a 2nd class citizen !!!!!!
Comment by johnny5 on 28 August 2008:
Neanderthals couldn’t talk the way we can, which would give us an advantage. I believe they couldn’t make the deep ooh sound.
Comment by Mihaela Lica on 29 August 2008:
How do you know they couldn’t talk, and how would speech affect the ability to survive anyway?
Comment by Vicky on 31 August 2008:
Actually Oggert, this is a put UP to cave men. You should probaby actually read the article before commenting
Comment by Ceiriog on 31 August 2008:
The neanderthal brain was bigger than ours is, so there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t have been able to speak. Just because their mouthes and wind pipes were a different shape, doesn’t mean they couldn’t communicate vocally.
Complex communication like speach, or even just gestures, would have had a significant impact on their survival chances. For instance, warning of dangers, describing where to find food, teaching skills, building relationships with more individuals than is possible with grooming alone.
Comment by Angel on 31 August 2008:
They say Neanderthals couldn’t talk because of some essencial part needed for that in the throat Mihaela. Maybe they couldn’t talk like us, but they surely had some kind of communication system. There are speculation pointing to a possible sign language to help their poor vocal skills (which, doesn’t matter how poor, they can give out some kind of system of communication too).
The ability of a quick communication is evident for survival. In some cases where coordination and cooperation is needed quickly (like fighting a predator together [you:go there, you:protect that group of children,etc] organizing an escape from a larger group), lack of communication ability would mean death.
Regards
Comment by Mihaela Lica on 31 August 2008:
I am sure they were able to communicate vocally somehow… sounds you know. A “language” of signs and warning sounds would be enough. Animals don’t “speak” and they still survive, so speech is out of the question when we talk about why Neanderthals are now extinct. I think there must be some genetic reasons that led to their death… Maybe a terminal disease? Something to which the Homo sapiens were immune? That makes more sense than “Neanderthals couldn’t talk, that’s why Homo sapiens survived…”
Comment by Great Scott on 31 August 2008:
My great-granduncle was a Neanderthal. He wrote a book about it. I’ll put up the Amazon link if I can find it back.
Comment by gord on 31 August 2008:
indeed. when hunting, a sophisticated sign language would be very useful. and, a good range of “grunts” could certainly fill in any blanks.
Comment by Mihaela Lica on 1 September 2008:
LOL, Scott! That’s a good one. Do send us the link.
Comment by Nick on 1 September 2008:
My (remarkably unscientific) guess: Neanderthal’s lacked Homo sapien’s ability to commit horrible atrocities. We probably genocided them out of existence.
Comment by Mihaela Lica on 1 September 2008:
This is an excellent observation, Nick. It happened in our more recent history for nations to wipe off other civilizations.
Comment by Sueblimely on 10 September 2008:
There are so many pieces of the puzzle missing. Can it really be said for certain that Neanderthals did die out - couldnt they have just developed at a different rate than Homo Sapiens, eventually interbreeding. They thought that the firbolgs of Ireland were wiped out but now they are saying they integrated with those that came later. Then again maybe climate change wiped them out (they seem to have been better suited to colder weather/warmer weather - the theory varies on this) or a meteor or disease or they turned back into a kind of ape, their arms getting strong and longer with all that sign language
I thought they could talk, but had shorter vocal chords more like a woman than man. This has never stopped a woman speaking.
Comment by A Student on 15 October 2008:
So, if Neanderthals couldn’t talk, but Homo Sapiens could, then why didn’t Homo Sapiens just teach the Neanderthals how to talk proper language?
Comment by Tom on 10 November 2008:
Well if we eliminate: 1) technological advantage [except for Sapien Mother's sewing needles]; 2)linguistic advantage (saying “uuuu” THAT important?!?!); & 3)social organization (nean. communities were stable enuf for injured/aged to live for years), what are we left? Look at history! In Americas, DISEASE had quick, near-total population-replacement effects. Any ’slaughter’ occured only after large #s of Sapiens– and VERY few Neandertals– were in Europe. I just cant see that happening in the first couple of hundred years. But then most of the Neandertals are gone with about 2,000 years. This is same as American pattern!
Comment by MarcLord on 4 March 2009:
Tom,
Great observation re Native Americans disease pattern comparison. There’s at least one other macro-dynamic sapien advantage which must have driven Neanderthal withdrawal. Neanderthal caloric requirements were about twice those of sapiens, which would mean twice as many sapiens could be supported by a given hunting ground. Those extra numbers surely provided for enhanced defense of grounds, and probably encouraged easier expansion. Both sapiens and Neanderthals were opportunistic cannibals, but an individual Neanderthal would suffer a much-increased caloric deficit during periods of food scarcity and presumably would resort to survival cannibalism more quickly.
Sapiens had domesticated animals around the time of Neanderthal extinction. There is not a shred of evidence suggesting Neanderthals had any animal husbandry, and while speculative, it doesn’t take much to imagine them stealing sheep and goats as their herders grazed them up into the high country. The resulting conflicts would have sealed their doom.