How sapiens were Neanderthals?: more evidence (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 14:20 (3596 days ago) @ David Turell

Latest research. They were technically advanced in some tool making:-http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/research-finds-neanderthals-were-more-thoughtful-than-we-once-imagined/2015/01/19/c848f040-71ac-11e4-ad12-3734c461eab6_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1-"Twisted fibers found on stone tools at another French site suggest that Neanderthals knew how to make string or cordage, and six stone arrowheads recovered there imply that they also used complex projectile techniques — tasks that would require advanced thinking.-"Starting about 200,000 years ago, Villa says, European Neanderthals used tools made with pitch, a glue material that doesn't occur naturally but must be synthesized from tree bark. Modern experiments show that producing pitch with the resources available to Neanderthals requires a high degree of technical knowledge.-"Once thought to be scavengers incapable of hunting, they actually were accomplished big-game stalkers who thrived by hunting a wide range of animals in a variety of environments, the latest research shows.-"Along with the idea that they were scavengers came the notion that Neanderthals ate a very limited diet, consisting mostly of large or medium-size mammals — dietary constraints that would have left them less adaptable to changes in the environment than early modern humans. But research simply doesn't bear this out."