Recently, I wrote about how researchers are reassessing their views of Neanderthals — from brute to beaut.
More recently, from Friedrich Alexander University in Nurnberg, we learned, “New fossil finds indicate that early childhood development was surprisingly similar to that of modern humans.” The research paper is open access.
Earlier this month, from Kyoto University, we learned, “Modern humans and Neanderthals may have shared long-term cultural continuity… Now, a breakthrough archaeological discovery has revealed that the two species did not merely cross paths: they possibly shared a common culture that spanned over 20,000 years.” The paper is here.
And from the University of Iowa, “Ancient DNA shared with Neanderthals may explain human language… A tiny set of ancient genetic ‘switches’ may have played a surprisingly large role in making human language possible. Researchers found that these DNA regions, which act like volume controls for genes involved in brain development, have an outsized influence on language ability despite making up less than 0.1% of the genome.” It’s open access here.
Now, Scientific American is getting in on it: “’I don’t think we would detect a difference if they were around today,’ says Tom Schoenemann, an anthropologist at Indiana University Bloomington and lead author of the study. ‘I think they would fit comfortably within the range of cognitive functioning that we see among modern humans.’” (Quoted in the newsletter. Here is the article. )
Did Neanderthals get smarter or is there a growing realization that the human mind has no history? We see it where and when we see it. We see it in grave goods at burial sites and in depictions on cave walls. If people are comfortable with that, they must be ready to ask some questions about many of the evolution stories we have taken for granted.
Cross-posted at Mind Matters.