Why did we think Neanderthals weren’t smart? Our earliest studies of Neanderthals were fundamentally flawed www.vox.com/unexplainabl... - ThreadSky

chrisbstringer.bsky.social • 80 days ago

Why did we think Neanderthals weren’t smart?
Our earliest studies of Neanderthals were fundamentally flawed https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/389768/neanderthal-science-was-wrong

Comments

jgcubed.bsky.social•79 days ago

Maybe we should stop referring to them as our "evolutionary cousins". They are our ancestors, because if you have one Neander ancestor you have thousands. And maybe call them the "Neander People" to emphasise their humanity.

jessicarobot.bsky.social•80 days ago

Even 8 or so years ago, my undergrad Earth History textbook made the argument that larger Neanderthal brain size of was not a sign of intelligence, stating the bigger brains was for coordination of their bigger bodies. The authors ignored evidence of Neanderthal ingenuity and technology.

panijohanna.bsky.social•79 days ago

"Perception of Neanderthals has always been less about Neanderthals and more about ourselves, or our current cultural moment. If you read what people have written historically about Neanderthals, will you learn less about Neanderthals and more about scientists and the society in which they live"

jvhietalahti.bsky.social•79 days ago

I when I read The Clan of the Cave Bear by Auel by Jean M. Auel 40 years ago, I thought that we might accually be party descendants of Neanderthals. Now its proven to be so. What is really interesting is that Neanderthals smartness became a topic after our kinship was proven by DNA samples.

eanwhite.bsky.social•62 days ago

Apparently we've evolved to regard all "others" as deficient. The question is, I think, why do we require the concept of "others" in the first place?

Related:

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5449698/v1