It was first discovered on Gibraltar in 1848, this strange skull with so many human attributes, but still not quite human as we would know it. There were distinct brow ridges and the face seemed to carry a more brutish expression. It became known as Homo neanderthalensis, and he was eventually found to have lived right across Europe 200,000 years ago.



Since then, a great deal more has been found out about him - and her. One of the main questions being, was he simply some brute-man, more ape than human? No complete skeleton has ever been found, but Gary Sawyer, of the American Museum of Modern History in New York found that one could be created from the plethora of bones that had been found.

Finally, he came up with a being which stood 5 feet 4 inches tall, but was a lot more powerful and robust than we are today. There's sometimes a mistaken impression that Neanderthal's world consisted purely of ice or, if not frigid conditions, then temperatures that were extremely cold. However, this wasn't the case at all.

The climate for much of the 200,000 years was as warm, if not warmer than ours today, but it must be pointed out that there was intense cold as well. As shown by Gary Sawyer, professor Trenton Holliday believed that Neanderthal had comparatively short limbs and a deep, powerful chest. This meant his vital organs were buried deep in his body, helping to fend off the cold when it did come.

Dr. To test the theories, George Havenith of Loughborough university and professor Leslie Aiello from UCL came together and conducted the ice bath experiment. The one man was chosen for his thick muscularity, while the other was slim. The latter came out considerably better than the former, withstanding the ice bath for a rather longer period.

Now, not only was Neanderthal suited very well to his surroundings, especially when the temperature dropped, he also had a brain 20% larger than our own. Professor Ralph Holloway of Columbia university, New York made the amazing discovery.

It was also found that Neanderthal was quite capable of some form of speech, since the small, hyoid bone in the throat was well enough developed. He would have been capable of speech, presumably words, but the sounds would have been harsher than our own and more high pitched. The big question is; where did he go? Why did he die out? He seemed basically invincible, with his strength, ability to withstand much colder temperatures than we and with a larger brain.

His main problem was mobility, or more accurately, agility. Professor Holliday found that Neanderthal was a lot stronger on his right side than his left. He hunted on the edge of the forests and woodlands, and would have pursued wild horses and cattle, as well as red deer. His spears were very thick and heavy, quite useless as throwing weapons, and so he was an ambush hunter, creeping closer and closer to his prey until he was in a position to charge and stab them.

Then, about 45,000 years ago, the climate changed quite drastically. Poor old Neanderthal started to lose his forests, and modern humans were able to take over his happy hunting grounds with their lighter spears which could be thrown to deadly effect.

As we've already seen, because of his build, Neanderthal simply wasn't able to keep up, and around 30,000 years ago, he simply died out, trapped in a body that could withstand anything but progress.

It's as though we're arriving now at a place in history that we can 'see.' We can see modern humans easily overtaking Neanderthal, so that the latter shrank and shrank simply because he couldn't keep up. It makes me wonder, though, with his much larger brain, why Neanderthal didn't adapt. Why he didn't see what modern man was up to and follow his example. But then again, there was no escaping that big, squat body of his, was there? Whatever the poor old chap tried, his extinction was inevitable.

Copyright (c) 2009 Mike Bond