Neanderthals Human Extinction bbc documentary
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Neanderthals Human Extinction BBC Documentary (2013, editor Matthew Barrett) Why are we the only humans alive and the Neanderthals extinct? I. The Discovery (1848) - a skull was discovered on the outpost of Gibraltar - had features of human and ape
- it had not been alone - remains of the savages were being found all over Europe from the Atlantic coast in the west to the foothills of Himalayas in the east - Anatole was right across Europe, evolved there for 200,000 years and 30,000 years ago they were lost - just based on fossil record, the Neanderthals just disappeared. Why?
-> Gary Sawyer, reconstruction expert working at American Museum of National History 1) Core of the skeleton (collar bones, shoulder bones, upper arm bones, hands): Kabara, Neanderthal that lived in Israel 60,000 years ago 2) Skull & lower jaw: Pharisee, Neanderthal that lived in France 50,000 years ago 3) Arms & legs: Neanderthal from Neander Valley, Germany (date unspoken, incomplete) -> transplant surgery 2. Study the Skeleton -> Trenton Holiday, expert in anti-tail body proportions (studied bones separately) “I’ve studied all of these pieces individually, but until you see it put together in this fashion, probably articulated like this, it really gives you an appreciation for the Neanderthal as an individual.” 1) Info from recreating skull - no taller than 5’ 4’’, immensely powerful build 2) Ribcage - ribs continue to flare out, in humans the ribs start to come in again - did not possess a waist, shortness of limbs, compactness of body inferred to be related to cold adaptation Neanderthals lived during the last ice age, when climate of Europe varied with intense cold. South where the tundra melted Neanderthals could have survived. Many scientists think to live in cold for so long, Neanderthals must have adapted to the cold. 3. Adapt to the cold -> Leslie Aiello – anthropologist, studied how Neanderthals survive the last ice age George Havenith – human biologist, studies how body regulates heat (Loughborough University) 1) Purpose: find out if the Neanderthal’s body type keeps them warmer 2) Method: Recruit two people with different physiques - tall, slimmer build, resembles ancient human ancestor (runner) - short, heavily muscled build, resembles Neanderthal (body builder) - Attach temperature sensors on body - Put both subjects in an ice bath
- human figure starts hyperventilating (symptom of hypothermia) earlier than Neanderthal subject - center of Neanderthal subject’s body contains much more heat than human subject
wide rib cage would have helped Neanderthal survive Ice Age, support more muscle in strength and insulation needed more MEAT (use a lot of calories) 4. How did they consume calories -> Trenton Holiday, John Shea, hunting specialist, Steve Churchill, anthropologist - capture enough calories to stay warm but not too much -> require a lot of calories - archeological evidence suggests that Neanderthals hunted on the edge of forests preying on large animals like red deer - needed twice the amount of E we need today - Neanderthal used stone spear point
- If Neanderthals had hunted in forests then the heavy spears they made would have had a major limitation couldn't be thrown - right arm has clear muscle marks, more powerful - in forearm, the curving of radius of arm, and fingers, especially pinky shows strong force, powerful grasping hand one arm far stronger than the other - thrusting a spear may create a strength difference in one arm rather than the other - predicted that left hand is a guiding hand, right hand is the dominant force - evidence from skeleton and spear suggest Neanderthals were ambush hunter that stalked their prey
5. Get inside the Neanderthal’s mind -> Ralph Holloway, expert in anatomy of ancient brains - insides of the skull has impressions of how the brain could have been shaped - make a cast and recreate brain - much bigger than modern human brain (20% bigger than average human) - same kind of cerebral symmetry - frontal lobe is similar (prefrontal portions that deal with cognition are same) predicted that cognitive abilities are same as humans, anatomically almost identical 6 . Could Neanderthals talk? -> Bob Franciscus, anthropologist that specializes in Neanderthal noses and throats -> Patsy Rodenberg, world top voice coaches - Hyoid could be related to language - what surrounds the hyoid is crucial to know * Experiment & Recreation - take medical scans of people’s throats (see how throat is positioned from hyoid and bones) predict soft tissue form from skeletal remains - develop equations to recreate vocal tract and apply to Neanderthal skeleton Calculated that Neanderthal’s tube is shorter and wider from front to back, similar to human females Predicts that Neanderthals had the anatomy to speak - actual voice prediction -> vocal tract, large rib cage, heavy skull, huge nasal cavity - predicted to have a large, high pitched, nasal voice powerful, adapt to the cold, linguistic ability 7. Climate Change -> Prof. Clive Finlayson from Gibraltar Museum - Around 4,000 – 5,000 years ago, climate in Europe became colder - speed of change was too quick, change within decades or centuries - forest was dying out because of weather, in new more open landscape -> more difficult to hunt - spears cannot be used in open land - first modern humans arrived in modern Europe with new technology of light, throwing spear - projectile weapons allowed modern humans to hunt more accurately - modern humans also had greater mobility
-> Prof. Fred Spoor from UCL - investigate inner ear canals to see balance, varies from size of animal - the more agile, the larger the ear canals are - modern humans have larger ear canals than Neanderthals (smaller than other ancient ancestors) predicted they were less agile, inferior to ancestors - lower limbs are built for power, not good for speed or long distance running - pelvis is broad, not efficient in long distance movements 8. Conclusion of video - Although Neanderthals were intelligent, adaptable to the cold, and had verbal abilities, their feature of adapting the cold (short build, not agile body) and the change of climate based on the ice age led them to their demise. Download 1.32 Mb. Share with your friends:
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