Human and Neanderthal interaction

[guy]

 

A subject I had never thought about was the long struggle between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens for domination. Here is an interesting article that delves into that struggle:

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Around 600,000 years ago, humanity split in two. One group stayed in Africa, evolving into us. The other struck out overland, into Asia, then Europe, becoming Homo neanderthalensis — the Neanderthals. They weren’t our ancestors, but a sister species, evolving in parallel.

 

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Neanderthals probably had tactical and strategic advantages. They’d occupied the Middle East for millennia, doubtless gaining intimate knowledge of the terrain, the seasons, and how to live off the native plants and animals. In battle, their massive, muscular builds must have made them devastating fighters in close-quarters combat. Their huge eyes likely gave Neanderthals superior low-light vision, letting them maneuver in the dark for ambushes and dawn raids.

Finally, the stalemate broke, and the tide shifted. We don’t know why. It’s possible the invention of superior ranged weapons – bows, spear-throwers, throwing clubs — let lightly-built Homo sapients harass the stocky Neanderthals from a distance using hit-and-run tactics. Or perhaps better hunting and gathering techniques let sapiens feed bigger tribes, creating numerical superiority in battle.

 

https://www.inverse.com/science/humans-vs-neanderthals

 

Here’s an interesting video that explores the relationship between the two species further:

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by guy

[caldrail]

As I understand it, the problem Neanderthals had was down to their settlement patterns, reliant on localised forage and hunting whereas the Cro-Magnon were migratory and followed the food sources.