Article Index
Environment, 70,000 years ago the world started cooling down into an Ice Age that lasted from 70,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, with the Glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago. The change in the environment might have forced the neanderthals out of existence. Modern Man on the other hand was able to weather the coming changes. As the climate became colder it forced both Neanderthals and modern Man to travel farther to hunt for fool. The Neanderthals did not have the social networks to support such long joints. Modern Mans ability to communicate worked towards having the social networks to the travel far outside his normal hunting areas. Weather is always changing from hot to cold back to hot again. At some time 45,000 years ago the weather was quickly getting colder. The food was getting scarce and both Neanderthals and Humans had to fight for the same sources of food. The Neanderthals had to get up close to their target making them vulnerable to injury. It is thought that Modern man was Starting to make Throwing weapons and maybe even bow and arrows giving them a better chance of avoiding injury or even death. They had to fight over shelter or make their own. As the hunted moved farther away the hunters had to make their own shelter and move with the food. It is unclear if the Neanderthals were able to make their own Shelter Modern man clearly did. Neanderthals were unable to adapt to the climate Change and died out, While Modern Man was able to change along with the environment and make his way to all parts of the globe.
Did modern Man interact with the neanderthals? Some scientists believe that the two groups lived side-by-side. That they might have been interbreeding and working together. The two would be communicating with each other in a limited way. The theory is unlikely because the two groups separated genetically from each other by more then 490,000 years, which is about the last time they shared a common ancestor. The thought is Modern man came out of Africa on the final Way of migrations.
What is DNA? We hear about DNA all the time on TV Crime Shows. All the crime show solve a murder here and a murder there using it. So, why can't we use it to find out if we are related to the Neanderthals? DNA is the 'Blue Print' for live. It tell the Amino Acids what to do in order to build the particular cells that make up all living things. Well, this is what they tried to do.
In 1856, fragments from a Neanderthal were dug up outside a small town in Germany. The fossils were found to have a small amount of DNA. The type of DNA that they used to compare with modern man was Mitochondrial DNA. This type of DNA is transmitted only from the mother and there is little chance of outside mutations. What they found was, the date for the last common ancestor between Modern Man and Neanderthal is around 550,000 years ago and 690,000 years ago. This doesn't show any interbreeding between the two groups. There is now major difference between DNA patterns in Europe where the Neanderthal population subsisted longer then in other places and the DNA patterns of people else where. This does not mean that Modern Man and Neanderthals did not interbreed, but it makes it seem less likely that they did.
The emergence of Modern Man on the scene in Europe and Asia forced the Neanderthal out. At some point in the past Modern Man exploded out of Africa in a massive wave. The flow into Europe and Asia is called “The Single Origin Theory.” This theory stats there was one woman in Africa whom gave birth to all Modern Man. So, from a common ancestor all of us can trace our roots back to this place in Africa in which she lived. Neanderthals lived in parts of Europe and Asia at the same time modern man was in Africa.