Neanderthal thread

[norseman]

Our cousins keep getting smarter and smarter!

 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2240117-oldest-ever-piece-of-string-was-made-by-neanderthals-50000-years-ago/

[NatFoot]

Did anyone ever really think they didn't have cordage to even lash together bags or basic clothing to help live in cooler climates?

[Twist]

What I’m really waiting to to find out about our distant cousins is did they hang their toilet paper over or under.   Then we’ll really know what kind of people they were.  

[Airdale]

I remember an item from a Paul Harvey newscast some thirty years ago in which he revealed the results of a study aimed at determining what percentage of modern humans hang the rolls each way. It was determined that 36% of those questioned were the underhanded type and the remaining 64% went over the top. I don't recall who performed the study nor the number of participants.

[hiflier]

Ever since I was a kid my mother instructed me to hang the roll over. Her reason? Hanging the roll over the top was a sign of generous people. She said stingy people hung the roll under. So I think the Bigfoots hang the roll under, or.....just use rabbits. No offense Madison, but just as a precaution? I wouldn't let your cute pet outa your sight. Those Bigfoots are wily, sneaky and fast. Now that I think about it, the strong odor that witnesses report  could either be the Bigfoot.....or the poor, hapless rabbit who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[CallyCat]

What I found interesting about Neanderthals is how their fires were positioned. Based on what I read in "Think Like A Neanderthal" It doesn't look like they gathered around fires like we do which might mean they were less social? Or maybe their cold tolerance was greater? Maybe they only had fire in summer when lightening strikes were more frequent? I don't know but I see parallels with socialization in modern society. If you go in a predominately white neighborhood you could interview everyone on the street and find that no one knows their neighbors. If you go visit a predominately African American neighborhood and interview them, they know who you are , where you work, where you go to church, and what you ate for breakfast that morning,  and they actually hang out with their neighbors. I don't know how much of that is culture versus genetics. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Neandertal-Thomas-Wynn/dp/0199742820

 

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/23862

 

This article has pictures of some interesting footprints left by Neanderthals that look like smaller versions of bigfoot prints.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/80000-year-old-footprints-reveal-neanderthal-social-life/

 

 

[norseman]

On 4/11/2020 at 2:22 AM, NatFoot said:

Did anyone ever really think they didn't have cordage to even lash together bags or basic clothing to help live in cooler climates?

YES! All of science did!

10 hours ago, CallyCat said:

What I found interesting about Neanderthals is how their fires were positioned. Based on what I read in "Think Like A Neanderthal" It doesn't look like they gathered around fires like we do which might mean they were less social? Or maybe their cold tolerance was greater? Maybe they only had fire in summer when lightening strikes were more frequent? I don't know but I see parallels with socialization in modern society. If you go in a predominately white neighborhood you could interview everyone on the street and find that no one knows their neighbors. If you go visit a predominately African American neighborhood and interview them, they know who you are , where you work, where you go to church, and what you ate for breakfast that morning,  and they actually hang out with their neighbors. I don't know how much of that is culture versus genetics. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Neandertal-Thomas-Wynn/dp/0199742820

 

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/23862

 

This article has pictures of some interesting footprints left by Neanderthals that look like smaller versions of bigfoot prints.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/80000-year-old-footprints-reveal-neanderthal-social-life/

 

 

I think not knowing your neighbors is a modern urban mindset. Your in a crowded room on your cell phone talking to your best friend 3000 miles away. Your socializing..... just not in a natural way.
 

White rural people KNOW their neighbors. They help each other. They go to church together. Their kids go to school together and play sports together. They also probably are related to each other....

 

 

[Huntster]

56 minutes ago, norseman said:

.......White rural people KNOW their neighbors. They help each other. They go to church together. Their kids go to school together and play sports together.........

 

Embolding mine.

 

I plussed your post for pointing this out, but frankly, people who have lived their entire lives in dense populations have a difficult time understanding that dynamic. I think you just have to live it to understand. Social psychology is a remarkable thing. 

 

I was raised in a urban/suburban environment, then moved into a wilderness environment that, over the course of my lifetime here, grew into a rural, then suburban environment. I have always been a social kind of guy personally, but anti-social in ideology (very weird, I know). I want to know my neighbors, endeavor to enjoy their company, go out of my way to be helpful and kind. That is much easier in a rural atmosphere, but even in the crowded suburban landscape of Orange County, California, I have found that most people want to be good neighbors and socialize to some extent, even though there are widely variable racial and ethnic lines to cross.

 

But the bottom line is that smaller populations are very easy to be neighborly. The entire state of Alaska has a resident population equal to that of the city of Long Beach, California. The current governor is a fellow parishioner at the church I attend. I've personally known previous governors, U.S. Senators, our Congressman, and local politicians or their family members. Everybody knows everybody. This just doesn't happen in giant populations of millions upon millions of people.

 

Edited to add:

 

The basic human social unit is the family. This is likely the unit the Neanderthals lived in. From there, the family bonds to other families into a community. From the community level, increased human density requires increasing social effort to co-exist peacefully and efficiently. Thus, family and neighborhood tend to form the greatest emotional bond in a persons soul.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Huntster

[CallyCat]

I've lived in both rural and urban areas but not a consistently long enough time or somewhere where I had family roots. My experience was very different. I was welcomed more easily in the African American communities than in predominately Caucasian communities. So knowing your grandmother or parents makes you "one of us" whereas moving into a community with no ties makes socializing much more difficult. The longer you are in one place the more likely acceptance will happen over time. I'm sure that cultural factors play a part but I also think it may be related to the percentage of Neanderthal genes we inherited that does not like to accept the unknown or "other".  This opinion is based on having moved around a lot during my life, I'm a rolling stone. 

[norseman]

2 hours ago, CallyCat said:

I've lived in both rural and urban areas but not a consistently long enough time or somewhere where I had family roots. My experience was very different. I was welcomed more easily in the African American communities than in predominately Caucasian communities. So knowing your grandmother or parents makes you "one of us" whereas moving into a community with no ties makes socializing much more difficult. The longer you are in one place the more likely acceptance will happen over time. I'm sure that cultural factors play a part but I also think it may be related to the percentage of Neanderthal genes we inherited that does not like to accept the unknown or "other".  This opinion is based on having moved around a lot during my life, I'm a rolling stone. 

Interesting. 
 

Of all of the ethnic groups in the USA? The African American group has the highest murder rate.

[SWWASAS]

18 hours ago, CallyCat said:

What I found interesting about Neanderthals is how their fires were positioned. Based on what I read in "Think Like A Neanderthal" It doesn't look like they gathered around fires like we do which might mean they were less social? Or maybe their cold tolerance was greater? Maybe they only had fire in summer when lightening strikes were more frequent? I don't know but I see parallels with socialization in modern society. If you go in a predominately white neighborhood you could interview everyone on the street and find that no one knows their neighbors. If you go visit a predominately African American neighborhood and interview them, they know who you are , where you work, where you go to church, and what you ate for breakfast that morning,  and they actually hang out with their neighbors. I don't know how much of that is culture versus genetics. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Neandertal-Thomas-Wynn/dp/0199742820

 

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/23862

 

This article has pictures of some interesting footprints left by Neanderthals that look like smaller versions of bigfoot prints.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/80000-year-old-footprints-reveal-neanderthal-social-life/

 

 

Most of the footprints sure have a prominent big toe.     Way more prominent than BF or out big toes.   I wonder why.   

[norseman]

8 hours ago, norseman said:

Interesting. 
 

Of all of the ethnic groups in the USA? The African American group has the highest murder rate.

Not sure why I got a downvote. It’s a statistical fact. 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States

 

According to the US Department of Justice, African Americans accounted for 52.5% of all homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, with Whites 45.3% and "Other" 2.2%. The offending rate for African Americans was almost 8 times higher than Whites, and the victim rate 6 times higher. Most homicides were intraracial, with 84% of White victims killed by Whites, and 93% of African American victims were killed by African Americans.^[49][50][51]

In 2013, African Americans accounted for 52.2% of all murder arrests, with Whites 45.3% and Asians/Native Americans 2.5%. Of the above, 21.7% were Hispanic.^[52][53]

Blacks account for the majority of gun homicide victims/arrestees in the US while Whites account for the vast majority of non-gun homicide victims/arrestees. Of the gun murder victims in the United States between 2007–2016, 57% were black, 40.6% white (including Hispanic), 1.35% Asian, 0.98% unknown race and 0.48% Native American.

Non-gun homicides represented about 30% of total murders in the time period. Blacks were still overrepresented although only by about 2.5x their share of the general population.^[54] Of the non-gun murder victims in the United States between 2007–2016, 61.5% were white (including Hispanic), 32.9% black, 2.29% Asian, 1.89% unknown race and 1.43% Native American.^[55]

————————————————————————————————————————-

 

Anyhow I don’t think much of it has anything to do with genetics......Neanderthal or otherwise.

[MagniAesir]

12 hours ago, CallyCat said:

I've lived in both rural and urban areas but not a consistently long enough time or somewhere where I had family roots. My experience was very different. I was welcomed more easily in the African American communities than in predominately Caucasian communities. So knowing your grandmother or parents makes you "one of us" whereas moving into a community with no ties makes socializing much more difficult. The longer you are in one place the more likely acceptance will happen over time. I'm sure that cultural factors play a part but I also think it may be related to the percentage of Neanderthal genes we inherited that does not like to accept the unknown or "other".  This opinion is based on having moved around a lot during my life, I'm a rolling stone. 

Of course the difference could also be in your comfort zone and how you interact with each of the different groups 

[CallyCat]

True enough, I usually go over and introduce myself to the neighbors and let things evolve naturally. I found the African American communities ( no neandthal DNA) to be more interested and welcoming, just my observation. It might have to do with a higher percentage of Caucasians being introverted as evidenced by the Scandinavian countries and how they interact as a community. Usually friends are people that you've known since childhood and embracing the ways of the community will make it easier to assimilate. That's true anywhere. 

17 hours ago, norseman said:

Interesting. 
 

Of all of the ethnic groups in the USA? The African American group has the highest murder rate.

I don't know why you got a down vote on that either, but it stands to reason, that the more interaction you have between members of a group the more likely fighting will break out. Assault statistics should be considered too. 

Edited April 13, 2020 by CallyCat

[Huntster]

8 hours ago, norseman said:

Not sure why I got a downvote. It’s a statistical fact..........

 

It was yet another example of how emotion can trump science and reality. (The use of the word "trump" may or may not have been intentional.........let's watch my vote count..........)

 

..........Anyhow I don’t think much of it has anything to do with genetics......Neanderthal or otherwise.

 

I still wonder about the dna differences between, say, a Neanderthal, you or I, and a Bambenga (pygmy) tribesman from the Congo. We call pygmy hippos a different species than hippos, so why are pygmies the same species as a white man from Norway who is 6'4"? Because it's emotionally, politically, ideologically, and socially more acceptable?

 

According to science (dna), I am 47% sub-Saharan African, 43% European, 7% native American, and 3% east Asian. How is that determined without enough differences to make different species, especially since chimps are supposedly 98% or 99% human? Is species decided by percentages like that? Is a sasquatch 99.75% human?