The Fossil Evidence of Neanderthal

The human lineage began with the emergence of Homo habilis: a hominid that walked upright, had a relatively large brain, and used stone tools. Then, about 1.6 million years ago, H. habilis gave rise to new species, Homo erectus. H. erectus had an even larger brain than his ancestor. This enabled the hominid to migrate out of Africa into much of the Near East, Asia, and Europe. As time passed, the processes of natural selection eventually led to further evolution within the regional H. erectus populations. In Europe, H. erectus gave rise to an essentially modern variety of H. sapiens, Neanderthal.

Named after the location of its original discovery--the Neander Valley in Germany--Neanderthal made tools, used fire, and buried its dead. In fact, analyses

. . .
of Krapina. Recent fossil evidence suggests that the hominid remains were defleshed in preparation for a secondary burial. For example, incised striations have been found on the surface of a juvenile hominid, Engis 2. Although the child died before reaching the age of 6 years, its skullcap has the distinctive Neanderthal shape. The evidence indicates that some time at or near the time of the death, the child's skull was repeatedly scored with a stone tool. Numerous densely cut cross-hatchings on the right zygomatic process of the frontal bone could only have been inflicted after the overlying soft tissues had first been removed. Such marks probably suggest that the child's cranium was defleshed. Many modern human societies have mortuary practices which feature the secondary burial of clean bones. The practice of burying the dead implies concern for the departed one. In addition, it may also indicate that Neanderthal had some concept of an afterlife. Thus, Neanderthal's psychological attributes may have been quite similar to those of modern H. sapiens. During the period of its existence Neanderthal spread across all of Europe, the Middle East, and western and central Asia. In fact, different populations of Nean
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Krapina Recent, Fossil Evidence, Aborigines Europeans, Ice Age, South America, Cro-Magnon Modern, Indeed Neanderthal, Physically Neanderthal, Physical Anthropology, European Neanderthal, modern humans, american journal, journal physical, american journal physical, physical anthropology, modern human, journal physical anthropology, april 1992, evidence suggests, human lineage, american 266 april, hominid populations, 266 april 1992, throughout world, scientific american 266,
Approximate Word count = 1486
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on The Fossil Evidence of Neanderthal