More handpicked essays just for you.
Similarities between humans and Neanderthals
Similarities between humans and Neanderthals
Similarities between humans and Neanderthals
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
To get a sense of what it is to be human, at least in the evolutionary world, we need only to compare our modern selves to our ancestors such as the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals were our closest hominin relative and died out thousands of years ago. Like us, they walked on two legs, hunted , made fire and tools, and lived in shelters (caves). They were more advanced than many of us imagine they were thanks to the way they are portrayed in the media. They had brains similar in size to ours, they stood fully upright (not hunched over), and had a surprisingly complex culture. When asked what it means to be human, you can compare many different aspects of our lives, such as biology, culture, and even religious beliefs. We obviously have no way of comparing our relgious beliefs to those of the Neanderthals, so in this essay, I will compare modern humans to Neanderthals on a biological, behavioral and cultural basis.
Similar to other pre-human hominins, Neanderthals were found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe and their anatomical features varied by their location likely due to climate and other factors of the region. For instance, the Neanderthals of Eastern Europe and Western Asia tended to be less “robust” than those found in Western Europe likely because it wasn't as cold in those areas. Neanderthals had large brains and most were even larger than today's modern human brain, which is believed to be the result of climate adjustment and more efficient metablolism better suited to cold climates. Their skulls, again, similar to their older hominin relatives, was large and bulged out at the sides, with a forehead that rose upwards more vertically than previous hominins and had a browridge that arched over the eye sockets, rat...
... middle of paper ...
...avioral nor cultural. It's all of those combined, but I believe in this day and age, it's the cultural aspect that makes being human distinctly different. Biologcially, our brains have allowed us the means to have genius thinkers among us that have led to huge cultural advancements. When we label a country as a “third world country” it's typically due to it's primitive culture and lack of technology, including modern medicine. When we label a culture as lower on the totem pole and treat the humans as such, this leads me to believe that our culture ultimately defines what it means to be human and the less advanced your culture is, the less human you are perceived to be, which would mean that in no way was Neanderthal human.
Works Cited
Jurmaln, R., Kilgore, L., & Trevathan, W. (2011). Essentials of physical anthropology. (9th ed., p. 5). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Chinese and Malaysian Homo Sapiens have very close features to the Neanderthal. The skull analysis of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are usually considered more accurate if the entire skull is examined, rather than certain ...
Around 1.8 million years ago, two hominids were born, first the Homo Erectus and then the Neanderthals. Although the two very different humans. However, were they that different? Our ancestors were very versatile hominids. They lived in various places and lived in a variety of ways. The Homo Erectus and Neanderthals were all special in their ways. They had similarities and differences that set them apart. They had similarities, but in the same way, their differences helped them survive if they had not adapted to how they lived they would have lasted the same time that their ancestors have lived. The Neanderthals lived for an average lifespan 30 years. They had to have some mistake that decreased their lifespan because if the Homo Erectus had done the same, there’s a chance that we might not be here now. Their differences set the future that we live in today. These
Robbins, R. H. (2014). Cultural anthropology: a problem-based approach (Second Canadian ed.). Itasca: F.E. Peacock.
The first morphological features that later would become typical of Neanderthals, the projecting middle part of the face and a depression at the back of the skull, have been observed in fossils found in Europe as old as 400,000 years (Stringer & Hublin, 1999). These fossils belonged to Homo heidelbergensis, which in one of the various evolutionary scenarios that ties Neanderthals and modern humans is considered the ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens (Hubmlin, 2009).
Robbins Burling, David F. Armstrong, Ben G. Blount, Catherine A. Callaghan, Mary Lecron Foster, Barbara J. King, Sue Taylor Parker, Osamu Sakura, William C. Stokoe, Ron Wallace, Joel Wallman, A. Whiten, Sherman Wilcox and Thomas Wynn. Current Anthropology, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Feb., 1993), pp. 25-53
In recent years, the Homo Neanderthalensis were viewed as “subhuman brutes”, but are now seen as a different species from our own (Balter 2001). The Neanderthals were a branch of the Homo genus that evolved in Eurasia at least 200,000 years ago (Fagan 2010). The first Neand...
Most of their evidence comes from the fossilized bones of Neanderthals and Cro- Magnons, or modern man’s ancestors (Shreeve, 150). There is a definite difference between their bone structures, and it may be a significant enough difference to divide them into species. There is a set of traits that distinguishes Neanderthals. Their general proportions are short, robust, and strong. Males and females of all ages have thick bones, and very pronounced muscle and ligament attachment sites. They also have distinct facial and cranial features. They have a large skull with no chin, a significant brow-ridge, and a large nasal opening (Shreeve, 49-150). They have large brains, around 1400cc, that protrude in the back, causing an occipital bun in the skull (Lecture, 4/19). Cro-Magnons on the other hand look more like humans do today. They are more slender and not as muscular, with chins and rounder skulls with slightly smaller brains among other traits.
Desjarlais, R., & Throop, C. J. (2011). Phenomenological approaches in anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, 87-102. doi: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092010-153345.
What does it mean to be human? To most people it means being high on the food chain; or having the ability to make our own choices. People everywhere have a few things in common: We all must obey Natural laws, and we have preconceived ideas, stereotypes, and double standards. Being human is simply conveyed as human nature in “The Cold Equations”, by Tom Godwin, where the author shows the common ground that makes each and every one of us human.
Humans come from the hominid species; short for Hominoidea, which was split from the close relative the chimpanzee. The line is connected before the time where the human race changed to bipedalism instead of four legged walking. Also, they’ve increased brain size, language, and economic dependence. The bipedalism is what cause the increase in brain size and tool use to the. Humans from this have become much less like the apes as they used to due to the evolution and changing of their actions, and these diff...
Hublin is a French Paleoanthropologist, and the founder and director of the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipsig, Germany. Hublin is also a professor in this institute, as well as in Leiden University and the University of Leipzig. In this book, Bailey and Hublin discuss advanced dental anthropological research involving hominid dental fossils. They describe several techniques used to examine these fossils, which have led to discoveries concerning hominid evolution. Bailey and Hublin explore humans’ dental morphology, diet, and growth and developmental changes. This book was published in 2007, so it is fairly recent. It is not biased because it is stating facts regarding research and advanced methodologies used to analyze fossilized
Humans are extremely complex and unique beings. We are animals however we often forget our origins and our place in the natural world and consider ourselves superior to nature. Humans are animals but what does it mean to be human? What are the defining characteristics that separate us from other animals? How are we different? Human origins begin with primates, however through evolution we developed unique characteristics such as larger brain sizes, the capacity for language, emotional complexity and habitual bipedalism which separated us from other animals and allowed us to further advance ourselves and survive in the natural world. Additionally, humans have been able to develop a culture, self-awareness, symbolic behavior, and emotional complexity. Human biological adaptations separated humans from our ancestors and facilitated learned behavior and cultural adaptations which widened that gap and truly made humans unlike any other animal.
One Difference is Their Foods. “Women gathered animal skins”(Article 1). “In the fall animals were slaughtered”(Article 2) Gathering foods seemed a little hard to do but it wasn’t for them because they have been doing it for the most part of their life. Another Difference is Housing. “Most Lived in Caves”(Article 1).“The Manor system allowed peasants to have land and farm,...”(Article 2). For them Being in the Same Location, Europe, You would have probably thought that their living situation would be the same but the much different. The Final Difference is Religious Beliefs. “Neanderthals may have practiced rituals connected with their belief of Afterlife”(Article 1). “People Celebrated births, marriages, and Religious Holidays, which were a chance to feast”(Article 2).Their Actual Religious cultures were almost similar but didn’t make the
The increase in brain size may be related to changes in hominine behavior (See figure 3). The third major trend in hominine development is the gradual decrease in the size of the face and teeth. According to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia ’98, the fossil evidence for direct ancestors of modern humans is divided into the category Australopithecus and Homo, and begins about 5 million years ago (See figure 1). Between 7 and 20 million years ago, primitive apelike animals were widely distributed on the African and, later, on the Eurasian continents (See figure 2). Although many fossil bones and teeth have been found, the way of life of these creatures, and their evolutionary relationships to the living apes and humans, remain matters of active discussion among scientists.
What does it mean to be human? Sure, one must have the usual physical features such as fingers, eyes, arms, hands, feet, etc., but what does it really mean? Must the human be able to speak? To take upon the actions of themselves? Whatever it means, it can be interpreted in any way from anyone. The physical attributes of any human can be compared to those of our evolutionary ancestors. However, it is possible to believe that there are many characteristics that make a human, but only six define the true, ideal human.