Neanderthal Knack

We humans have suffered numerous blows to our ego in recent decades, as one of our so-called exceptional qualities after another has been recognized in other animals. First it was the realization years ago that many animals also forge tools—maybe not as complex as our robots and computers—but they are an intentional use of an object (often even constructed by the critter itself) to accomplish a deed that their paws or claws alone could not. 
 
Next it was the ability to self-recognize, such as when we look in a mirror and realize it's our own self, rather than some other being. There are several other examples of barriers being dismantled; barriers that we had come to believe distinguish us from “lower” animals. The message: we are not that far removed from the animal kingdom. 
 
Yet one more blow to the belief in human exclusivity recently landed, when Neanderthal art was discovered in caves in Spain. So why is the discovery of Neanderthal art so unexpected, or even seen as threatening to our superiority, by some people? When the fossil bones of these distant cousins were discovered in the 19^th century in Germany, anthropologists were inclined to deem them as some sort of inferior brute. Otherwise, why would they have gone extinct? 
 
It was known that our direct ancestors, the Cro-Magnon, and Neanderthals co-existed for several thousand years, before the latter died out. We won; they lost. Furthermore, their fossil skeletons showed them to be heavy-browed, stout folks. Weren't they closer to apes than humans? So how can we accept these brutes as being artists?

Let's first consider some background and how we know it was Neanderthals who had the knack to create their own style of cave art. Furthermore, is it art? These recent Spanish cave discoveries have been dated to a time some 25,000 years before our human ancestors even left Africa—during an epoch in which Neanderthals were the sole species of hominid in Europe... the sole European artists, as it now turns out. The paintings are the first example of true Neanderthal art we have found.

Exquisite examples of Cro-Magnon cave art had previously been discovered over many years, in Spain and France. They exhibit a quality that obviously emanates from the human mind—a mind that is highly conscious and reflects upon itself. When we look upon these Cro-Magnon drawings, we find that they evoke deep feelings within us. They are fellow humans.

Gazing upon the recent Spanish cave drawings by Neanderthals, one gets a similar feeling from their art. It may not be as accomplished as Cro-Magnon art, but the paintings surely evoke an intelligent, highly-conscious mind; one that obviously reflected upon itself. These feelings inevitably draw us closer to those Neanderthals who wangled their way into dark cave recesses some 30 to 40,000 years ago and created these works of art. They move us. They truly are art.

Until this recent Neanderthal discovery, we thought that only we Homo sapiens (descended from the Cro-Magnon) were capable of expressing such meaning. Neanderthals were thought to be too primitive. They were artless, because we believed that Neanderthals could not have acquired the necessary cultural self-consciousness to create art. 
 
It will take some time for us to comprehend the significance of these recent cave art discoveries. It's obvious that they demonstrate Neanderthals were capable of creating art. But what did their drawings mean to them? For that matter, we're still trying to comprehend the meaning of Cro-Magnon cave art. These Neanderthal renderings are undeniably art, but why did they do it? Why penetrate deep into caves (without modern battery-powered lights) and create their works in darkness? Had they any idea that their art would survive for so long, to inspire and puzzle future humans?

As we ponder these mysteries—and will probably discover more—the answers may come to us. In the meantime, we can benefit from an appreciation of yet one more connection to our ancient Neanderthal cousins, as well as many non-human species. It tells us there's a gradual blend of capabilities between species—not a stark barrier. Is there not an unbroken path from “primitive” cave art to the Mona Lisa?

Doggone Good Cooperation

Who'd a thunk that our ancient alliance with wolves (who we quickly bred into tame puppy dogs) would be related to how our ancient European ancestors (Cro-Magnon man) out-competed the Neanderthals? It's been known for a long time that we humans domesticated wolves tens of thousands of years ago, and also that we outlived our Neanderthals cousins, who disappeared some 40 thousand years ago. But the link between these two events was only recently identified by a researcher at Penn State University. How was this connection realized?

Neanderthals had inhabited Europe some 200,000 years before Cro-Magnon man even entered the scene. Neanderthals were accomplished hunters of large herbivores such as mammoths and elk, but they also had fierce competition from European lions, leopards, hyenas, as well as wolves. It was very challenging and dangerous to bring down a mammoth or bison by spears. Once you managed to kill one, lions and hyenas would harass you and try to steal your prized meat. So Neanderthals may have lasted a long time, but they were not all that dominant—their population stayed modest.

Then about 45 thousand years ago, modern humans entered Europe. Now the Neanderthals had yet one more competitor for the hunt. Humans, however, had an ace up their hairy sleeve: they domesticated the wolf. It was a great example of a complementary relationship—two potential competitors (humans and wolves, both of whom loved to dine on mammoth meat) joined forces to make their partnership far more effective than either one could do alone.

Those early wolf-dogs had the job of tracking and harassing big game until their prey tired, but then they didn't have to close in for the kill—which could become very dangerous when they faced a cornered and aroused adversary. Instead, humans appeared on the scene and dispatched the prey with spears from a safe distance. Having cooperated for the kill, dogs and humans then shared the treasure. Together, they could also successfully fend off other carnivores who might show up. Thus was born the human and hunting-dog team... which proved to be a deadly combination.

In the meantime, the Neanderthals—having been around far longer, but who left no evidence that they ever partnered with wolves—were at a serious disadvantage. Before long, they disappeared—followed a few millennia later by European mammoths, bison, and giant elk. The human-dog team was lethally efficient.

This is just one more example of how species that managed to evolve cooperation have fared better than those who couldn't. Yes, Darwin's insight into the power of survival of the fittest shoes how evolution competitively plays out, but it's not all about the fiercest competitor always becoming triumphant. Strategic alliance have also favored the prospering of species.

Skillful Stone Agers—Part 1

When people want to disparage another person’s intellect, they often compare them to an ignorant Stone Age inhabitant, or liken them to a Neanderthal. “Man, you’re as dumb as a Neanderthal!” Modern people tend to look upon our Stone Age cousins as simpletons living a life of danger, deprivation, even misery—when compared to our modern existence. Today we have so many conveniences and comforts that our ancestors lacked, and we’ve progressed so much farther, that we feel as if their lifestyle was simple-minded and of extremely low quality. Who would ever want to live like they were forced to? They were ignorant. How could I live without TV, my smart phone, or my emails?
 

The Stone Age or Paleolithic period may be defined as the span of time beginning about 2.6 million years ago and ending about 4,000 years ago—when the Bronze Age began. The predecessors to humans began using stone tools around that earlier date, and when we Homo sapiens entered the scene (some 200,000 years ago), we continued using stone, until we learned how to forge metal. The period I’m considering here is what’s called the Upper Paleolithic or Later Stone Age: the span from about 60,000 years ago to the beginning of the agriculture revolution, about 12,000 years ago. (A simple graph would work better here, than all these numbers. Sorry.)

At the beginning of this Later Stone Age period—that time about 60,000 years ago—we humans experienced a leap forward: we developed the ability to communicate in a complex manner. We acquired the full benefits of language; after which we entered a period of rapidly-improving cognitive abilities. Symbolic thought emerged and cultural creativity exploded. This was a time before we became an agricultural people (around 12,000 years ago) and well before we began to play with metals. We had not settled down yet, but wandered about, in search of food. Stone tools were our primary implements. Later Stone Age people were hunter-gatherers, living off the land, wandering seasonally from place to place.

We like to consider ourselves as far more advanced and smarter than these Later Stone Agers. So what was life really like for these ancient ancestors? How primitive were they? How dumb were they? Well, contrary to what we modern humans think, the quality of life for our Later Stone Age ancestors was better than today. Yes, that’s right; better. Let me repeat that: BETTER! 

 

That statement may seem outrageous to those of us who enjoy a lifestyle of owning conveniences and enjoying advantages that our deep ancestors could never have imagined. While that may be true for the privileged few among us, when we compare most people around the world today to the typical Later Stone Age person, we find that the latter was (1) healthier and less disease-prone, (2) taller, stronger and more robust, (3) in possession of a larger brain, (4) far more knowledgeable about her immediate environment, and (5) in possession of greater coping and survival skills. 

 

More on skillful Later Stone Agers next time…

Thank You, Cousin

Homo sapiens is the sole human-like critter to have survived millions of years of primate evolution. One by one, the other hominid species died out—either because they were less fit for their niche or because we may have out-competed them and drove them extinct. The last of our hominid cousins (Neanderthals) disappeared tens of thousands of years ago—leaving us to dominate the planet.

DNA analysis has gotten increasingly accurate in recent years, to the extent that we now know that at some point we interbred with those most recent cousins of ours. Some 4% of our DNA comes from Neanderthals (who left Africa far sooner than our human ancestors did, headed for west Asia and Europe). When we followed them to Eurasia, we coexisted with them for a few thousand years and even had sex with them. Similarly, the recently-discovered Denisovians also departed Africa ahead of us and migrated into East Asia. Since 6% of our DNA comes from them, some of our ancestors must also have mixed it up with the Denisovians.

It’s interesting to contemplate why this interbreeding may have occurred, especially when these two closely-related species looked so different from us humans. (No one yet knows what a Denisovian may have looked like, since we know about their existence only by the discovery of a finger of one of them. The DNA analysis was able to show that they were a separate species.) Our hunter-gatherer ancestors traveled in small bands and tended to look upon other bands of humans as alien and not quite human. So ancient humans must have regarded Neanderthals and Denisovians as even further from allowing any possible relationship, and yet the evidence suggests they did get it on.

Maybe on those long, cold nights during glacial periods, it may have been any port in an ice storm. I could see the temptation to snuggle up with a hairy, warm body as just too great to resist. A warm and fuzzy dog or cat can be a blessing when the temperature drops. It’s also possible that individuals of one species were captured by another species, and found some attraction coming over them, in time. I’m thinking of white people being captured by American Indians (or vice versa) 300 years ago, and then later mating. (I have intentionally avoided considering the possibility of forced sexual relations, although that may well have happened. I’d like to stay upbeat and focus on consensual coupling here.)

So what may have been the result of a little cross-species hanky-panky on the part of our deep ancestors? For one, it may have fostered a little peaceful interaction between these different hominid species—think of Pocahontas’s supposed intervention to save the life of John Smith and later marrying Virginian Thomas Rolfe. Colonial period liaisons such as this certainly could have saved a little blood from being spilled—which may have also been true for humans and Neanderthals.

Recent scientific research has discovered another benefit from our cross fertilization with Neanderthals and Denisovians: it gave a boost to our human immune system. Those rare interbreeding incidents introduced new variants of immune system genes into us—in fact, the study shows that some of our stronger immune system genes came from our hearty cousins. (One interesting ancillary fact that arose from this work is that people from today’s Africa have fewer immune system genes than Europeans and Asians, because their ancestors stayed in Africa and did not get the opportunity to mate with those other extinct hominids.)

So the next time you see a drawing of a Neanderthal, don’t think about how they seem inferior and uglier than we do… feel a little gratitude for the diseases you haven’t had, thanks to those ancient cross-species romances. Thanks, cuz!