The Neandertal type site revisited: Interdisciplinary investigations of skeletal remains from the Neander Valley, Germany
Neander Valley was an important limestone extraction site but in mid-1800s human bones were discovered during excavations. These bones were assigned to a human Neandertal 1 but the exact details of the extraction and the location remain obscure. Many years later in 1997 and 2000 excavations in this region were resumed and many new bone fragments were discovered. These bone fragments are typical as that of Neandertals and belong to at least three different individuals. AMS radiocarbon dating and mtDNA sequencing suggest that the bones are about 40,000 years old and establish the context of the humans they belong to. This study undertook a comprehensive study including genetic, morphological, archaeological, and dating analyses providing a more comprehensive picture.
Question: What damage could have occurred to the bone fragments as they were thrown about from the excavation site to the valley?
New Data on the Late Neandertals: Direct Dating of the Belgian Spy Fossils
The replacement of Neandertals by Anatomically Modern Humans is supposed to have happened around the time of transition between the Middle to Upper Paleolithic era. Many theories regarding the population processes exist but conclusive evidence is lacking. In this regard the current study reexamines the remains excavated from the Spy Cave in Belgium. The bone fragments obtained from this site count up to 1816. The dating analysis conducted under study assigned remains of four humans to the Neolithic. The Neanderthal remains analyzed put them in line with the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician transitional complex that is supposedly formed by the last Neandertals of the Northern Europe. Whether the formation of LRJ was an acculturation process or a local evolution remains uncertain.
Question: What is the difference between local evolution and acculturation with regards to the Neandertals?
Did Neandertals Linger in Russia’s Far North?
Neandertals were most concentrated in the Europeanregion until about 40,000 years ago Modern Humans came in and drove the Neandertals away. Neandertals are supposed to have retreated to the Spanish and Portuguese resigns but recent researchers claim to have found Neandertal remains in Northern Russia. The problem is that these remains are only in the form of stone tools and artifacts rather than actual Neandertal bones. Byzovaya is the region where these remains have been found and it has been excavated numerous times since the 1960s. The stone tools excavated show a preparation method and formation similar to that of Mousterian tools commonly attributed to Neandertals. For some these tools are not enough evidence that Neandertals actually lived in this region while the supporters of this claim insist that they did. This debate cannot be resolved without the discovery of actual Neandertal bones or DNA evidence.
Works cited
Balter, Michael. "Did Neandertals Linger in Russia's Far North?." Science332.6031 (2011): 778-778.
Schmitz, Ralf W., et al. "The Neandertal type site revisited: interdisciplinary investigations of skeletal remains from the Neander Valley, Germany."Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 99.20 (2002): 13342-13347.
Semal, Patrick, et al. "New data on the late Neandertals: direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils." American journal of physical anthropology 138.4 (2009): 421-428.
