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kocf1945 t1_ixmjblt wrote

Reply to comment by TotalWarspammer in Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers used culinary seasoning in food preparation, according to analysis of the oldest charred food remains ever found by marketrent

Now I’m curious about this. I don’t think we know what happened but I need to go look up some well reasoned hypothesis as to why they went extinct

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TotalWarspammer t1_ixmjvy0 wrote

I read that in the end humans as we know them now were just more resourceful and more competitive and Neanderthal numbers slowly dwindled to unsustainable pockets of populations... although of course they did mate with us and pass on some DNA!

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surle t1_ixmnabx wrote

As far as I understand (not an expert) the "out competed by homo sapiens" theory is just the most likely logical explanation everyone goes along with for the convenience of having a sensible premise and is not something that has been strongly supported with evidence. It's quite possible some fascinating discovery just around the corner of another site like this one could provide the solid bit of evidence needed to properly strengthen that theory, or turn it on its head. All the more reason to support organisations that fund such research, and probably another good reason to oppose the idea of dropping a lot of bombs everywhere.

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TotalWarspammer t1_ixmv111 wrote

Of course it's not "just convenience" that scientists think that. What else would you think would cause the species to go completely extinct? There is no evidence that they was a disease specific to Neanderthals or that they were hunted by other men. The evidence suggests the dwindled gradually into smaller groups and then finally faded away. They were not as adaptable or as resourceful as we were.

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Entity-2019 t1_ixmwk79 wrote

Given our known history, I am leaning toward systematic continental genocide as a probable explanation. Maybe the Neanderthals "worshiped the wrong god", or even worse, "worshipped the same god, the wrong way".

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CallFromMargin t1_ixq8b5t wrote

Yeah, no. For starters, both human and neanderthal population dropped significantly at around 70 000ish years ago, probably due to some kind of cataclysmic event (a supervulcano eruption was long suspected but it might not have been the cause). Human population recovered, neanderthal population didn't.

But even if it did, would you be able to tell neanderthal apart from modern humans?

EDIT: also the last known neanderthal population seem to have died out during time of periodic climate change that would have fucked with their food supply.

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frickin-bats- t1_ixol64l wrote

Neanderthals were adapted to the cold and for hunting big game, they thrived during the last ice age. As the climate warmed and a lot of big game died out, their physical traits and way of life weren’t as advantageous/sustainable, and for whatever reason they were unable to adapt to keep up with the environmental changes. Competition with early modern humans probably didn’t help, and as some other people mentioned they interbred with early modern humans, so they may have just been gradually absorbed into the human population

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