Neanderthal vs Homo Sapiens: Who Would Win in a Fight?

A team of scientists and paleo-artists has created a more accurate Neanderthal reconstruction, based on a nearly complete skeleton discovered in France more than 100 years ago. The La Ferrassie Neanderthal man was short but stocky. If a modern man came nose-to-nose with a Neanderthal, could he take him in a fight?

Possibly. A Neanderthal would have a clear power advantage over his Homo sapiens opponent. Many of the Neanderthals archaeologists have recovered had Popeye forearms, possibly the result of a life spent stabbing wooly mammoths and dismantling their carcasses. Neanderthal also had a wider pelvis and lower center of gravity, which would have made him a powerful grappler.

That doesn't mean that we would be an easy kill for our extinct relative. Homo sapiens probably has a longer reach and more stamina. And we could deploy these advantages to maximum effect using our superior wits. Neanderthals on average were about 4 inches shorter than modern American men. So, a guy of above-average build would have an excellent chance of defeating a Neanderthal in hand-to-hand combat if he could keep his opponent at arm's length, survive the initial onslaught and wear him down.

Of course, Neanderthals are lightweights compared to some of our other evolutionary neighbors. You would not want to encounter Homo heidelbergensis on a deserted sidewalk. Some specimens were more than seven feet tall, and they were cannibalistic at times, which means they knew how to fight other archaic humans. Paranthropus boisei would also have been a terror in combat. That creature had powerful jaws, enormous teeth, very well-developed back muscles and is often described as a gorilla head on a human body.

[GenXstacker]

So homo sapiens was 4 inches taller and had a longer reach. Before you assume that means he would win in a fight, picture someone with musculature like a Neanderthal. It would be like Mike Tyson going up against all those taller guys with longer arms and knocking them TFO.

[jubilee]

I guess neanderthals want a rematch but too extinct to say it. lol

[joshuaespinoza]

my teacher sent me this after an argument in online class. i said neanderthal were probably stronger and smarter than us, but we killed them off because we adapted to use long ranged weapons and live in large groups.
of course, he missed the point entirely and just continued insisting that we outsmarted neanderthal 100/100 times.

[bobbilly]

To beat all of these relative humans:Get a Russian or a black guy to fight our relative extinct humans one by one.

[fullsendcirca]

The specimens of Neanderthal we found were short in stature but they varied just like we do. However, a Neanderthal would easily beat the shit out a homo sapien. Not only do they have denser muscles but they’re grip strength is strong enough to crush your neck and the pinky finger has just as much strength as the other fingers as oppose to us. Also in general one side of a Neanderthal is considerably more muscular than the other most likely a result of thrusting spears where the thrusting hand generates most of the power hence why one arm/side is more developed. In short Neanderthal wins in hand to hand combat

[zaidanesem]

now that far cry primal is out, we can really experience the battle between modern humans and neanderthal ;)

[RaymanFUN]

Homo Heidelbergensis was not nearly anything like 7ft, they maxed out at 6

[TheSamuraiLair]

There are two things wrong with this video.  First of all, Neanderthals weren't dumb, they're technology was superb, and even they invented the first synthetic material.  Second of all, a Homo Sapien could never beat a Neanderthal.  They are estimated to be about six times stronger than we are, and would be able to bench about 350 pounds. So I doubt our higher stamina,  slight reach advantage, and our height advantage would promise a victory.

[dman]

Neanderthal had way more stamina than us. Their lungs where way bigger.

[viceanime]

neandrathals had way thicker bones too if you punched one you would break your hand

[garthmcripfist]

The average man would have to spend five minutes updating his social media and googling "how to win a fight" Neanderthal's killed mammoths, no competition

[ChazZen]

but you also have to take into account the body, maybe more of their brain was used to regulate their body than our brains, but maybe our brains had a bigger area of cognitive thought and creativity and stuff like that. their body did need more energy after all just to regulate its temperature, ph, hormones etcetera.

[daniels]

Thing is, Neanthertals didn't really know any tehniques. They would charge at you and try to scare you, try to grab you and smash your head into the ground, things like that, but they wouldn't know how to deflect and dodge blows the same way we do, they would trow wild punches, and attempt to take you down if they sees that it can't get trough your guard. Not to mention they wouldn't know how to protect their heads with their arms like we do.


I'm 6'4 and weigh 200 pounds, I'm not a fighter but know how the basics of guarding my head, jabbing and crossing, trowing elbows and knees.

Sure they had thicker skulls but that wouldn't mean that our punches wouldn't hurt them, only that it would take one or two additional solid hits to the head to knock one of them down compared to a human.


If the fight goes to the ground, I would be at a force disadvantage, but some basic BJJ moves would be more in the way of tehnique that they would know.



Neanthertals have the physical advantage despite their shorter height and reach, but us modern humans have mastered hand to hand combat, whereas they would only know how to strike instinctually.


I think that an adult male in good physical shape who knows the basics of striking and grappling and has solid fight or flight instincts could very easly defeat a Neanthertal, myself included if push came to shove.

[icebear]

A male Neanderthal could easily be 5'8" and weigh 320 lbs with no fat on him. A human would have no chance at all unarmed.

[damuni]

They know more than you can possibly imagine, the first Neanderthal was found in Germany decades before Darwin's theory of evolution was published, we've known about them for over a century.

[Knight]

those mammoth killing, dense boned, heavily muscled neanderthals who had to hunt all their lives in a frozen wasteland wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against a modern man who goes to the gym 3x a week and has agile cellphone thumbs

[Don-dsdy]

also they did not have sutibale ranged weapons

[ChazZen]

dayum, imagine if we had the physical strength of a Homo heidelbergensis and the brain and good looks of a homo sapien sapien. WE WOULD BE PERFECT.

[Jerkwad]

Well, a Neanderthal my size would have the strength and speed of a pro wrestler, so...I guess they would win in a fight.

[justforjava]

There were two major battles between Neanderthals and Sapiens, and Neanderthals won the first (before 70, 000 years ago, i.e., before the Cognitive Revolution in Sapiens), and Sapiens won the next (after 70, 000 years ago). A single Neanderthal could swash a sapiens, but a team of neanderthals vs sapiens would give huge luck to sapiens