Cool article

[stuckinthemud]

Defiantly not serious. BUT, the current archaeological debate is very strong on not imposing your views on the archaeological evidence, so, we can see that h. sapiens sapiens was cousin to h sapiens neanderthalensis, and they were close enough genetically to  create fertile progeny (as opposed to f1 hybrid - infertile like mules).  Equally, current facial reconstructions of H.S. N. shows them to be as human in appearance as you and me.  The artistic interpretations of H.S.N. as brutish and clad in bad fur loin cloths are very unfair and have no basis in archaeology.  Quite why H.S.S. is interpreted as sophisticated and H.S.S.N. as brutish is beyond me as the two branches of human were technologically equal and equally human in appearance, according to the archaeology. That is, I think it is fair to say that while genetic mixing would quite possibly have been by force in some instances, it would also be by consent in others.

[paulc]

Gotcha, agreed.

I would guess any non consensual breeding went both ways...P

[stuckinthemud]

I would imagine that would be the case, ultimately we have no idea.  I apologise if I appear crotchety on this matter, even when I was in Uni studying archaeology and geography, the geographer in me would squirm at the outrageous stories applied by my archaeology texts to the tiniest piece of material culture.  All sorts of people who should have known better weaving outlandish tales to suit their own preconceptions of what they felt were crude and backward savages.  I'm afraid it still jerks my chain

[paulc]

 

have you found these on youtube yet.  Pretty cool stuff; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgd5Mt25koI

[stuckinthemud]

Not stumbled over them but they seem a nice little summary of current theories, thanks for the link

[stuckinthemud]

Had a fun evening reading up on it. This one was very interesting
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/30/africa/africa-neanderthal-dna-scn/index.html

[paulc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6Q5p0CcQw

[stuckinthemud]

Yeh, the theory is that a rise in global temperatures turned the lush forests into plains and scrubland forcing h. Habilis to adapt to ground living and hunting in increasingly open and less hospitable country, forcing swift development of weapons and tools in the face of large predators, hunting replacing poor quality food from the reduced quality in vegetation

[paulc]

https://youtu.be/0jdcR8jr3d0

[Pappy]

Tough life.  We sometimes think we got it rough.
 Pappy

[Allyn T]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/essential-timeline-understanding-evolution-homo-sapiens-180976807/

[Hawkdancer]

Very interesting article!  Thanks for the link.  A lot has happened since the first flaked tool!  
Hawkdancer

[Mesophilic]

This may add a twist to the Neanderthal extinction

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/18/969063568/ancient-trees-show-when-the-earths-magnetic-field-last-flipped-out

In summary: the last magnetic pole flip was about 42K yeara ago, Neanderthals went extinct about 40K years ago.

[Allyn T]

I read that article last night, pretty interesting stuff. I wonder if I really did it or it changed the climate so much that's what really caused the die off.

[paulc]

Fascinating stuff, mad max time if it happens again