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Neanderthals are famous for having lived through the last major ice age, yet for a period of around 14,000 years they had to endure the effects of a naturally occurring global warming cycle. Struggling to adapt to the changing conditions, the Neanderthals turned to cannibalism in desperation, according to a provocative and timely new study.

New research published this week in the Journal of Archaeological Science suggests the crushing impact of the Last Interglacial Period, also known as the Eemian period, forced Neanderthals into cannibalism. This era of prehistory, between 128,000 to 114,000 years ago, saw global temperatures rise to about 2 degrees Celsius higher that the average global temperature in the 20th century. The archaeologists who authored the new study, Alban Defleur and Emmanuel Desclaux from French National Center for Scientific Research, presented new evidence showing how the sharp spike in temperature reshaped the Eurasian environment, and by consequence, the animals upon which the Neanderthals depended.

[gizmodo.com]

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AtheistNews 6 Apr 1
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donald trump is proof that neanderthals are still alive

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It's kind of a non-starter, isn't it? There were never going to be two members of the homo genus around for long. There is evidence we (Cro-Magnons) bred with Neanderthals, despite a pretty small window where the two groups existed in the same place at the same time. We are just the next step up that evolutionary ladder.

It's likely Neanderthals did have some form of superstition, though it's obviously all lost. I wonder how we'll be remembered in as much time? Our brains are smaller than the Neanderthals, and the primary indicator of intelligence in primates is brain size. That's counter-balanced by how much more efficient our brains are at receiving blood flow.

Would be interesting to see. Sadly, I'll be floating in my lazy marinara river eating noodles with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. R'amen.

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Quite a lot of modern DNA originated with the Neanderthals, you could therefore say that they did not go extinct, but merely merged with modern humans, who then kept the best bits while the rest faded away.

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Predicting social evolution in isolation fast forward from an extinct hominid fossils and tools is worse than speculative....the false assumption alleged deities is a natural and biological reality insults my species....religion began with the first lazy rapist misogynistic greedy scum who manipulated what grunts and moans passed for language yet unwritten....2nd Kings 8:12 fits here true to form.....rip open the bellies of pregnant women and dash little ones against the stones let not any one live but keep the virgins for yourselves

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The article got me thinking about how much theology would be different if Neanderthals were still around.

Their brains were different, so it's likely they would think up a different form of nonsense to worship.

I heard it once said that, "If frogs have gods, their gods are frogs." I think this can pertain to Neanderthals too.

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