man always interested in its origin.Who he is, where and how did - for a long time it was one of the main issues.In ancient Greece, during the birth of the first problem of the origin of human sciences it was fundamental in the emerging philosophy.And now, this issue has not lost its relevance.While in the past century, scientists have been able to move far ahead in the problem of the appearance of man, it becomes more and more questions.
No research can not be completely sure that the accepted hypothesis about the origin of life, including the appearance of a person is correct.Not only that, a century ago and today are real scientists, anthropologists war, defending their ideas and refuting the theory of opponents.
One of the most well-studied ancient people a Neanderthal.This extinct a long time representative of the human race, who lived 130 - 20 thousand years ago.
Provenance name
the west of Germany, near Dusseldorf, is Neandertal valley.It received its name after the German pastor and composer Neander.In the middle of the XIX century it was found the skull of an ancient man.Two years later, anthropologist Shaafgauzen, engaged in his research, has entered into a scientific turn term "Neanderthal."Thanks to him, the bones were not sold, and now they are in the Rhine Land Museum.
term "Neanderthal" (photo obtained by the reconstruction of his appearance can be seen below) has no clear boundaries because of the vastness and heterogeneity of this group of hominids.Status of this ancient man, too, is uncertain.Some of the scientists relates it to the subspecies Homo sapiens, some isolated as separate species or even genus.Now the ancient Neanderthal man is the most studied fossil hominids views.Moreover, still continue to find bones belong to this species.
As it found
remains of representatives of the primitive man could find the first of the hominids.Early humans (Neanderthals) were discovered in 1829 in Belgium.Then, this finding did not attach importance and its importance proved much later.Then their remains found in England.And only a third discovery in 1856 near Düsseldorf gave the name Neanderthal and proved the importance of all the previous found fossils.
quarry workers discovered a grotto filled with silt.After clearing they found near the entrance of the human skull and several massive bones.Ancient remains were acquired by German paleontologist Johann Fulrotom, who later described them.
Neanderthal - structural features and classification
found fossil bones of people have been thoroughly studied, and research-based scientists were able to reconstruct the approximate shape.Neanderthal - is undoubtedly one of the first people since its resemblance to Homo sapiens is obvious.However, there are a huge number of differences.
average growth of ancient man is 165 centimeters.He had a stocky build and big head, and the volume of the cranium ancient people Neanderthals than modern humans.Hands are short, more like paws.The broad shoulders and barrel chest talk about great strength.
powerful eyebrows, very small chin, a nose, a short neck - another Neanderthal features.Most likely, these traits are shaped by the harsh conditions of the Ice Age, in which the ancient people lived 100 - 50 thousand years ago.
Neanderthals structure gives reason to believe that they have more muscle mass, heavy skeleton, ate mostly meat and were better than the Cro-Magnons, adapted to the subarctic climate.
They had primitive speech is likely to consist of a large number of consonants.
Since these ancient people lived on the vast territory, there are several types.One has features closer to the mammal-like appearance, while others like the modern man.
Habitat Homo neanderthalensis
From the remains found today know that Neanderthal man (the ancient people who lived thousands of years ago) lived in Europe, Central Asia and the East.In Africa, these hominids were not found.Later, this fact was one of the evidence that Homo neanderthalensis is not an ancestor of modern man and his closest relative.
As we reconstruct the appearance of the ancient human
Beginning Shaafgauzena "godfather" of Neanderthal man have been made many attempts to recreate the look of this ancient hominid from fragments of his skull and skeleton.Great success achieved in the Soviet anthropologist and sculptor Mikhail Gerasimov.He created his own method of restoring human image with the help of skeletal remains.They were made over two hundred sculptures of historical figures.Gerasimov also reconstruct the appearance of late Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon.He created the Laboratory of anthropological reconstruction continues to successfully engage in the restoration of the exterior of the ancient people and now.
Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons - is there in common between them?
These two kind of representative of the people some of the time lived in the same epoch, and existed side by side for twenty thousand years.Scientists refer to the Cro-Magnon early representatives of modern man.They appeared in Europe 40 - 50 thousand years ago, and very different from the Neanderthals physically and mentally.They were tall (180 cm), had a straight forehead without protruding brow, narrow nose and more clearly defined chin.In appearance, these people are very close to the modern man.
cultural achievements of the Cro-Magnon achievements surpass all their predecessors.Ancestral big brain development and primitive technology, they in a short time made a giant leap forward in its development.Their findings are striking.For example, in caves and tents made of animal skins small groups of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons lived.But it was the last first settlements were established and eventually formed tribal community.They tamed the dog, performed funeral rites, painted hunting scenes on the walls of caves, were able to make tools, not only in stone, but also from the horns and bones.Cro-Magnons had articulate speech.
Thus, the differences between these two types of ancient man were significant.
Homo neanderthalensis and modern man
a long time in the scientific community were disputes about who from representatives of ancient people should be regarded as the ancestor of man.Now it is known that a Neanderthal (photo made on the basis of the reconstruction of the remnants of their bones, it is visually confirmed) physically and external appearance is very different from Homo sapiens, and not an ancestor of modern man.
Earlier on this account there is another point of view.But recent studies give reason to believe that the ancestors of Homo sapiens lived in Africa, which lay outside the habitat Homo neanderthalensis.Throughout the long history of the study of the remnants of their bones, they have never been found on the African continent.But the issue was finally resolved in 1997 when the University of Munich was deciphered Neanderthal DNA.The differences in the genes, the scientists found, were too high.
genome research Homo neanderthalensis continued in 2006.It has been scientifically proven that the difference in the genes of this type of ancient man from modern began about 500 thousand years ago.To decipher the DNA were used bones found in Croatia, Russia, Germany and Spain.
Therefore, it is safe to say that Neanderthal man - is close to us extinct species that is not a direct ancestor of Homo sapiens.This is another branch of the vast family of hominids, which includes, in addition to human and extinct ancestors, also advanced primates.
In 2010, in the course of the research Neanderthal genes have been found in many modern nations.It says that between Homo neanderthalensis and Cro-Magnon existed mix.
Life of ancient people
Neanderthal (the ancient people who lived in the Middle Paleolithic) first used the most primitive tools inherited from his predecessors.Gradually they began to appear new, more sophisticated forms of guns.They are still made from stone, but have become more diverse and sophisticated in the art of processing.Total found about sixty types of products that are actually variations of three basic types: ax, scrapers and ostrokonechnikov.
During the excavation sites of Neanderthals were also found knives, awls, scrapers and serrated tools.
scrapers help in cutting and dressing of animals and their skins, points were even wider in scope.They were used as knives, knives for butchery as spearheads and arrowheads.We used the ancient Neanderthals and bone for tools.They were mostly awls and the island, but found and larger objects - knives and clubs from the horn.
As for weapons, it was still very primitive.Its main view, apparently, was spear.This conclusion is based on studies of animal bones found at the sites of Neanderthals.
these ancient people are not lucky with the climate.If their predecessors lived in the warm season, the time of the appearance of Homo neanderthalensis began a strong cold snap, the glaciers began to form.Landscape Circle resembled the tundra.Therefore, the life of Neanderthals was extremely harsh and full of dangers.
house them still served the cave, but gradually began to appear in the open construction - tents of animal skins and bones of the mammoth structure.
Sport
Most of the time a person is engaged in search of the ancient food.According to various studies, they are not scavengers and hunters, and this activity involves the coordination of actions.According to scientists, the main commercial species for the Neanderthals were large mammals.Since ancient man lived in the vast territory, the victims were different: mammoths, wild bulls and horses, woolly rhinoceroses, deer.An important game animals was a cave bear.
While hunting for large animals has become their main occupation, Neanderthals continued to address the gathering.According to the study, they were not totally carnivorous, and their diet consisted of roots, nuts and berries.
Culture
Neanderthal - it is not a primitive creature, as it was considered in the XIX century.Ancient people who lived during the Middle Paleolithic, formed a cultural destination, which was called the Mousterian culture.At this time, it begins the birth of a new form of society - tribal community.Neanderthals took care of the members of his clan.The hunters do not eat the prey on the ground, and carried her back into the cave to the other tribesmen.
Homo neanderthalensis not yet know how to draw or create animal figures made of stone or clay.But in its place parking found stones with elaborate grooves.The ancient people could also be applied parallel scratches on the tools of bone and drilled to make jewelry from animal teeth and shells.
The high cultural development, says Neanderthals and their funeral rites.It found more than twenty graves.The bodies were placed in shallow pits in the pose of a sleeping man with bent arms and legs.
has an ancient people and the beginnings of medical knowledge.They knew how to heal fractures and dislocations.Some findings suggest that early humans took care of the wounded.
Homo neanderthalensis - mystery extinction of ancient man
When and why did the last Neanderthal disappeared?The mystery on the minds of scientists for many years.This question has not exactly proven answer.Modern man does not know the reason why dinosaurs disappeared, and can not say that has led to the extinction of his closest fossil relative.
For a long time it was believed that Neanderthals were pushed over his rival adapted and developed - Cro-Magnon.And the evidence for this theory is really a lot.It is known that modern humans appeared in Europe in the area of Homo neanderthalensis about 50 thousand years ago, and 30 thousand years, the last Neanderthal disappeared.It is believed that these twenty centuries of living side by side in a small area was a time of fierce competition between two species for resources.Cro-Magnon won thanks to the numerical superiority and better adaptability.
Not all scientists agree with this theory.Some put forward their no less interesting hypothesis.Many hold the view that Neanderthals destroyed climate change.The fact that 30 thousand years ago in Europe began a long period of cool and dry weather.Perhaps this has led to the disappearance of the old man who could not adapt to the changing conditions of life.
rather unusual theory put forward by Simon Underdown, an expert at Oxford University.He believes that Neanderthals battled the disease, which is peculiar to cannibals.As you know, the person eating it was not uncommon at the time.
Another version of the disappearance of the ancient man - assimilation with the Cro-Magnons.
extinction of Homo neanderthalensis was uneven over time.On the Iberian Peninsula, the representatives of this type of fossil hominids lived after a millennium after the disappearance of the rest of Europe.
Neanderthals in modern culture
appearance of ancient man, his dramatic struggle for life and the mystery of the disappearance have been the topics of literary works and movies.Henri Joseph Roney Sr. wrote the novel "Fight for the fire", which was praised by critics and was filmed in 1981.The film of the same name received a prestigious award - the "Oscar".In 1985 it was created the painting "The tribe of the Cave Bear," which tells the story of the girl of the family after the death of his Cro-Magnon tribe began to be raised by Neanderthals.
new feature film, dedicated to the ancient people, was created in 2010.It's "The Last Neanderthal man" - the story of EO remaining the only survivor of his family.In this picture, the cause of death of Homo neanderthalensis became not only the Cro-Magnons, who attacked their parking lot and killed, but an unknown disease.There is also considering the possibility of assimilation of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.Filmed in a documentary style, supposedly on the basis of good science.
addition, Neanderthals subject of many films, telling about their lives, occupations, cultures, and consider the theory of extinction.
