ZAP // Erich Ferdinand / Flickr
Homo neanderthalensis, Neanderthal Man
New research indicates that the stereotype that Neanderthals had worse cognitive abilities than Homo sapiens may have no scientific basis.
For more than a century, Neanderthals were widely portrayed as cognitively inferior to modern humans.
The stereotype dates back to 1857, when German anatomist Hermann Schaaffhausen examined the first known Neanderthal fossil, discovered in Germany’s Neander Valley. At the time, he described the skull as primitive and underdevelopedsetting the tone for generations of scientific and popular opinion.
But modern researchers argue that these initial conclusions were shaped by limited evidence and outdated views on human evolution.
However, new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is challenging this assumption, suggesting that differences between the brains of Neanderthals and modern humans may be much less significant than was believed.
In the new study, an international team of anthropologists compared brain scans of contemporary populations from the United States and China. Their findings revealed that variations in the brain structure of modern humans are actually greater than the differences observed between modern humans and Neanderthals, says .
Crucially, the researchers emphasize that such anatomical differences do not correlate strongly with cognitive ability. If small brain variations between modern populations are not considered evidence of significant intellectual differences, then similar differences between Neanderthals and modern humans should not be interpreted that way either.
The study adds to a growing body of archaeological evidence that suggests Neanderthals were much more capable than traditionally assumed. Discoveries in recent decades indicate that they used tools to make fire, made stickers, created clothing and may even have produced abstract art. There is also evidence that points to possible medicinal practices and the use of complex materials.
Some researchers have also suggested that Neanderthals had the anatomical capacity for speechalthough this is still difficult to definitively confirm from fossil records.
In addition to behavior, scientific perspectives on Neanderthal biology also evolved. Once portrayed as curved and primitive, more recent analyzes suggest that had an upright posture and a physical constitution comparable, in some aspects, to that of modern humans.
Genetic research makes the dividing line between the two groups even more blurred. Many people nowadays carry traces of Neanderthal DNAindicating that there was interbreeding between them over thousands of years. Some scientists now propose that Neanderthals may not have actually gone extinct, but rather .
