New Discoveries about Neanderthals

Here is a fun fact: The Neanderthal valley was renamed in the 19th century for theologian Joachim Neander, who also wrote the hymn "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation." Interesting that a supposed evolutionary ancestor of humans was discovered in "his" valley.

There is a prairie schooner-full of information showing that the Neanderthal people were fully human. Many of us have Neanderthal DNA. Information supporting their humanness keeps pouring in. A new bit of research was quite interesting and also puzzling to evolutionists.

Neanderthal Woman, PLOS One / WikiComm / Bacon CPH (now deleted) (CC BY 2.5), Modified at PhotoFunia

Apparently these bad boys were built for speed. Not marathons, but sprinting. They were considered slow brutes and adapted for extreme cold of the Ice Age in earlier years. Well, even the Ice Age climate there gets a rethink because not as many areas were in the deep freeze as previously thought. Genetics show that they have the same types of genes existing in modern sprinters. With their muscular stature, ability to sprint, and the climate, they may have been hunters using surprise.

Recently, scientists discovered genetic evidence that Neanderthals, despite their common image, were built for bursts of speed. So, just as you likely wouldn’t win a 100-metre race against one of our modern sprint athletes, you’d probably lose to a Neanderthal, too.

Also, scientists have recently reconstructed the face of a Neanderthal boy, and—no surprises—he looks oh-so human . . . 

To keep reading, see "Neanderthals: A very human race — New discoveries are changing perceptions." Be sure to come back for the next installment.

The portrayals of Neanderthals by evolutionists has itself evolved significantly over the years, emphasizing their assumption of ape-man ancestry. In recent years, their images have become very much like modern humans. (After all, a lot of interbreeding between Neanderthals and other humans happened.) There is a range of physical traits in any one "race" (ethnicity), and since we are all of one race, the range is extensive. Although they skew their papers so Darwin doesn't get the sads, most evolutionists finally admit that past thinking about Neanderthals was wrong.

The Neanderthal progression has been an evolving story of human evolution. Neanderthals have “evolved” (so to speak) in scientific interpretations from a creature close to an ape into one that was a close relative of ours.

The story of Neanderthal re-interpretations illustrates one of many examples of paleoanthropologists having to admit, “Oops! Sorry, we are wrong about that.” (See our Early Man category for other examples.) Each new re-interpretation was itself superseded by another one which, in turn, was replaced until we reach the view now common today. One of the newest Neanderthal interpretations was published in Nature by F. Kreier this year under the title, “Neanderthals and humans interbred more recently than scientists thought.” Kreier says,

You can find out what Kreier says by going to "Neanderthals Promoted to Relatives." The final installment is kind of fun.

Something smells mighty fine over yonder at that Neanderthal campsite. Wonder what it is this time? Those folks liked to titillate their taste buds, trying all sorts of things. Some were plants, some were easy hunting — and some were exceptionally dangerous hunting. Want a slice of cave lion? Sure can tell a great deal from studying their campsites.

What about birds? After all, Neanderthals were just like us in many ways. No sign of birds having been cooked. That's not surprising. Researchers cooked up some birds using the tools and styles that may have been used by Neanderthals. It was harder than they expected. No, Neanderthals were not a step in human evolution, nor were they inferior. They were another group of people that were created in the image of God.

Recently, archaeologists went where no modern cooks have ventured before: They tried to recreate Neanderthal cooking. In a recent paper in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, Mariana Nabais et al. note that Neanderthals in the Eurasian steppe enjoyed a varied diet:

To chew on the rest of the article, dig into "The Joy of (Neanderthal) Cooking."