Our Long Lost Cousins

Our last remaining cousins, the Neanderthals, died out approximately 35,000 years ago. What a loss!

Image By: Pixabay.

They were the second to last surviving bipedal apes before vanishing into the mists of time. We, homo sapiens, are the last ones standing. And, we are the final race of humans from early hominid groups now estimated to be around 23 in total. This number, however, is constantly being revised as anthropologists make greater inroads into understanding the science and history of bones.

When the first discovery of Neanderthal skeletal remains was made in the Neander Valley in Germany in 1856, the initial determination was made that the bones were from some early “caveman” and unrelated to modern humans. But, within a few years, it was determined the remains were those of an extinct form of a human.

Over the early years after the discovery, the researchers wrongly concluded they were a big, slow-witted form of human, lacking in the intelligence and sophistication of homo sapiens. They were often depicted in cartoons as brutish; dragging females around by their hair and swinging clubs.

The latest research has now revealed the Neanderthals to be as sophisticated as their homo sapien cousins in having elaborate burial ceremonies, making primitive jewelry, and creating cave…