Tag Archives: Neanderthals

Article summary Stable isotope analysis reveals ancient diets: By measuring ratios of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bones and teeth, scientists can determine whether prehistoric individuals consumed C3 or C4 plants, and whether they were herbivores or carnivores. This technique has illuminated dietary habits from Neanderthals to early hominins. Advanced methods refine dietary insights: Techniques …

A protein that helps synthesize DNA is different in modern humans than it is in Neanderthals and Denisovans — our closest extinct relatives — and new experiments in mice genetically modified to express the modern human version hint that this may have made us behave differently. That discovery, in turn, could shed light on why Neanderthals and Denisovans vanished, researchers …

Did UV Rays Doom Neanderthals?  The Wall Street Journal Source link

One gene reveals clues to why humans thrived and Neanderthals didn’t  The Washington Post Tracing brain chemistry across humanity’s family tree  Phys.org Neanderthal Brains Developed Differently  MSN Source link

Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. Based on chemical analysis of Neanderthal remains, it seemed like they’d been feasting on as much meat as apex predators such as lions and hyenas. But as a group, hominins – that’s Neanderthals, our species and other extinct close relatives – aren’t specialized flesh eaters. Rather, they’re more omnivorous, eating plenty …

For hungry Neanderthals, there was more on the menu than wild mammals, roasted pigeon, seafood and plants. Chemical signatures in the ancient bones point to a nutritious and somewhat inevitable side dish: handfuls of fresh maggots. The theory from US researchers undermines previous thinking that Neanderthals were “hypercarnivores” who stood at the top of the food chain with cave lions, …

A new study published in L’Anthropologie is shedding light on a remarkable discovery from Skhul Cave in Israel. Researchers have reanalyzed the remains of a 140,000-year-old child, and the findings suggest that the child could have been a hybrid between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. This revelation challenges long-held assumptions about early human evolution and may provide new insights into the …

The discovery of ancient human cousins has long stirred wonder and debate. Early Neanderthal remains offered a glimpse into our distant past, prompting questions about how they lived and whether they mingled—or clashed—with early humans. The plot thickened with the later discovery of Denisovans, another mysterious branch of the human family tree. Each new finding deepened the mystery of who …

Roughly 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, two groups of Neanderthals were living in caves less than 45 miles apart in what is now northern Israel. One group called Kebara Cave home—tucked into the limestone slopes of the Carmel Ridge. The other settled in the Amud Caves, nestled in the rugged eastern Upper Galilee near a dramatic stone pillar that gave …

Nothing turns up the heat in a kitchen quite like debating the best way to chop an onion. Now researchers have found even our prehistoric cousins had distinct preferences when it came to preparing food. Archaeologists studying animal bones recovered from two caves in northern Israel have found different groups of Neanderthals, living at around the same time, butchered the …