A Day In The Life Of A Neanderthal

Long before Homo sapiens populated the earth, the Neanderthals lived in Eurasia.
Now, paleoanthropologists in England and France are using new archeological methods to shed light on some previously unexplained Neanderthal mysteries.

Many years before in history, before homo sapiens lived on this planet, the neanderthals populated the earth. Due to the advancement in Paleoanthropology, we more of less understand the ways of our ancient ancestors.
When asked to picture a Neanderthal, most of us immediately think of a dumb Fred Flintstone type, carrying a club, wearing fur, and finding the nearest woman to knock over the head and drag back to their cave.
Well, that’s wrong.
Neanderthals were a social and capable species, who were far more intelligent than we think.

#neanderthal #homosapiens #history #caveman #evolution #anthropology #extinct #ancienthumans

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Voice-over Artist: Chris Redish
Ciaron

Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.

[pagey]

"Using home-made spears"! Hilarious! Couldn't they afford the store-bought ones?

[thomassmestead]

Neanderthals could make fire. They used flint and iron pyrite strikers, or hand drills. They also made glue from birch 'gum' for fastening stone heads to wooden shafts.
They were actually quite more sophisticated than previously was thought.
They had art, which means that they could think abstractly.

[MohdHilal]

we need some scientifically accurate movies and series about Neanderthal drama and action

[speakingupforpointmolate]

Neanderthals could make fire. Since many lived during the ice age, they would not have the convenience of waiting for a brush fire ignited by lightening to scoop up cinders. They made tools from flint, and made their own pitch to attach to sticks to make throwing spears. They knew how to make fire.

[clockworkdimetrodon]

What bothered me about this was how frequently the presenter used the words “surprisingly” or “rudimentary”. Nobody who has spent time around real knapped stone tools thinks that they’re simple or rudimentary. The Neanderthal were NOT stupid. I’ve seen a hypothesis that they may have had better memory but poorer creativity then Homo sapiens, based on brain shapes. Truly a fascinating people.

[jmfa]

I find it curious that the author of this video seems unsure whether Neanderthals could produce their own fire. I'm pretty sure that when they were chipping tools out of flint and chert, they noticed a spark or two, and figured things out from there. Seems reasonable to me, much more reasonable than waiting around for a convenient lightning strike or brush fire.

[peteacher]

Take the time to read Jean Auel's series "The Earth's Children" in which she weaves a realistic fiction about the complexities of Neandertal (the h is not pronounced) and Cro Magnon cultures and their interaction with each other. Her scholarly research in anthropology is deep and detailed.

[UltimateSenshi]

I do believe they would have had a language just based on their intelligence and their ability to plan things the way they did. Its such a shame we'll never get to find out so many of the things that we'd all love to know.

[steveporter]

Not disputing it, just wondered how they know that they "shared the kill equally before heading back to their families" . There are several statements like that throughout this video that, while they MAY be true, we really have no way of knowing.

[scoots]

Homo sapiens ego, the Neanderthals were probably way more intelligent and had way more life skills than we give them credit for. They probably taught us Homo sapiens a lot of things that led to our survival in the cold climates of Northern Europe. They were there for probably 10, 000 years before us.

[tromcsasz]

Loved the 'home made spears" line at 3:42 Thought they might have got them from the Tesco nearby.

[jeffnaslund]

A small percentage of my DNA loves this

[Daniel-obml]

Where do I start? First they used fire frequently in preparation of food, in forming weapons, etc. They had a voice box similar to our own and therefore were capable of speech. They manufactured clothing, shelters, tools(including sewing needles and thread), weapons, and decorative jewelry. And yes their weapons were "homemade" but so were the weapons of all humans of the time. They were omnivores as we are. They cared for their sick and elderly. So, they obviously had a social construct. They were much like us, just built different.

[arnoldj.gerdsnerter]

Narrator said that the Neanderthals had home made spears. I'm glad he cleared that up for me.

[systemofarammstein]

The size of their nose is a controvertial Thing, because, in cold places, a big nose may help warming a little more the air, but it also makes easier to get frozen. According to my teacher in Evolution, their nose size is because of the strength of their muscles. Neandertal had a very large lungs and, powerful muscles and they need to make a lot of exercise everyday, so, a bigger nose comes with a bigger income of air which is need by the correct function of their muscles. BTW I'm a student in Anthropology in the University of Granada.

[bobayotte]

FYI, Fred Flintstone was not dumb. He was a heavy machine operator, loyal friend and a great provider for his family. Not to mention a person who was active in his community as member of The Water Buffalo Lodge. Today's men are mostly simps who wouldn't last 6 months if society collapsed.

[oakstrong]

They had religion, vocal cords capable of speech, art, sophisticated tools (VERY SHARP KNIVES) baked bread of sorts, took care of weak members etc, and they occupied in the same caves for centuries, some at the same time with modern humans, fermented drinks, it would be preposterous to think our cousins didn't know how to make and maintain fire! Let us also consider that they lived during an ice age: although the landscape did not get covered by permanent snow, it would still get pretty cold in Southern Europe: having a fire made a big difference (as it does to other, furry animals.)

[thomaswayneward]

I have read that the Neanderthals were more intelligent than modern humans. I always amazes me that the "experts" associate intelligence with artistic drawing, etc. I have never noticed in my lifetime that "artists" are more intelligent than a bricklayer.

[davidwhitney]

It seems most likely that early Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals interbred on a regular basis although one can question how many sexual encounters were fully voluntary. Yet, I've asked many female friends and acquaintances, those who are divorced or who have had many relationships, if they would voluntarily have sex with a Neanderthal man. Inevitably the response is 'I already have"....

[Turkish_Model__]

Of course they resembled Basques. Germanic is an Indo-European language like Hittite. You can find blonde features in places like Turkey, Chechnya, Georgia, Lebanon, Persia.