Neanderthal – Saturday 22nd October 2022

Neanderthal – Saturday 22nd October 2022

There was an interesting article regarding a study of Neanderthals found in Siberia. I thought I would write some thoughts.

I believe these people lived in large groups in their heyday, moving with the seasons and the herds.
They were different to us behaviourally. My sense is that they were not aggressive and quite gentle. Happy with a simple but meaningful life.
After a very long existence I believe they started to experience birth defects and health problems and began to splinter into small familial groups. Essentially a healthy family would have shied away from the unhealthy and this likely lead to the inbreeding.
They also had other different humans (us) in their midst and I think they would have feared us for the most part.
If that’s correct then the small surviving Neanderthal groups would have travelled to places that we didn’t go to. Difficult places that they could hide in. Unfortunately though, such places aren’t easy to live in. And sadly, this was how they dwindled away.
If I was to draw on the primates, we were like the chimps and they were like the orangutans.
Humans, but with a different configuration. I am quite sure they were a loving and lovely people.
By Fiona MacLeod (c)