The Real Neanderthal Man

The Real Neanderthal Man

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Ratings: 7.67/10 from 27 users.

The Real Neanderthal Man42,000 Years ago, the only humans in Europe made clothes, educated their young, made tools. But they weren’t the same as us.

Now the very latest technology can reveal exactly how they lived, the dangers they faced and the communities they made in the Neander valley in Germany.

We all know the word Neanderthal to be an unflattering qualifier for some of our more uncultured and dim-witted fellow humans.

But was the real Neanderthal man truly such an intellectual dunce? The Real Neanderthal Man looks at modern scientific findings that reveal quite the opposite.

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Berne
Berne
6 years ago

An excellent presentation and one that shows very well how good scientific studies are really carried out and interpreted.
Too bad some people have felt obliged to whine about raceism, as this had nothing to do with that subject.

Jay Steff
Jay Steff
6 years ago

But did they "collude" with the cromags? Hopefull the did not waste the limited time they had worring about stupid items like that,,,,spend time living and not being consumed with non-essentials. to just move forward.

Zorocano78
Zorocano78
10 years ago

It cracks me up all this talk about racism and who did what to who when and who is to blame blah blah blah. Fact is human beings have committed great injustice to each other the world over. And while we can point to specific incidence and point the finger and blame certain cultures or peoples etc the fact remains that no peoples are truly innocent of exploitation. At some point in time just about every culture that has ever existed has made war, sacrificed, killed, stolen, raped, murdered, enslaved and exploited its way over others. Fact is that after tens of thousands of years we are no more civilised or better than our ancestors. We are spiritually, emotionally, psychologically immature and insecure in our understanding of the world, how we fit into it, and what our purpose is. We debase each other, argue, find contempt and excuse to fight and lash out, and justify our violence as something due to survival. Our ill manner towards others merely reflects a deep rooted problem of our own inner psychology and emotional make up. Culturally and as a species we have very deep rooted behaviour that stems over tens of thousands of years, and we have yet to learn from any of it. Its a real shame that any kind of injustice occurs, its a real shame that mankind has not learnt to show understanding, compassion and love.

Carl Franklin Hendershot
Carl Franklin Hendershot
11 years ago

Did I miss something? The end hit me like bat man. BAM! What happened?

madscirat
madscirat
12 years ago

Good documentary, though I was a bit surprised to see that Neanderthal man looked exactly like The Dude from The Big Lebowski.

Sarah Tree Travers
Sarah Tree Travers
12 years ago

part 2 is missing, it's skips straight to part 3!!

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
12 years ago

Germans are genius

Naveen Boggarapu
Naveen Boggarapu
12 years ago

you can say " exactly how they lived,". We might know only 1% of the facts. It is bit miss leading to say like that.

Vincent Marini
Vincent Marini
12 years ago

@Robin I thought about it. Maybe it's just that...when we stumble upon some little piece of the puzzle that is our universe we grant ourselves the trophy of having become a little more advanced.

Each clump of pieces that we've managed to cram together...which, if you will allow me, we can call 'a field of study', Anthropology and Archaeology to name two, is just full of people chasing those little advancements. They seem the most likely to trip over a bulky ego and fall into the conclusion that we're (they're) more advanced. Hell, every time they find another piece and study it they pat themselves on the back with their new advancements...so of course they're better...and hallelujah another documentary is born and Neanderthals are dumb.

I know that on the scale of nothing and everything my intelligence lies somewhere near the bottom and as I look in that direction I see most of the people I bump into...and they've been of all walks of life...doctors, lawyers, scientists, artists...to name the chosen few...or the chosen habitual placaters.

I mean, really, isn't the habitual drive for the approval of ones betters the first step towards getting to shout from the top of one of those little clumps? It sure helps to get you through college...a few times ...and the higher they are on the clump the louder they are.

Occasionally we hear of someone with a natural proclivity or fixation or obsession to the point of madness that gives them renown in a field without having climbed the little hill...which just further proves how unnecessary outstanding brilliance is to climb a hill. Outstanding brilliance is more like a tough little Sherpa...with wings...Ramanujan, Terry Pratchett, George Bernard Shaw, DaVinci, etc.

Not that I would totally disregard Joe Harvard or Yolanda Yale but don't we have so much to learn? ...and don't they?

In short, Neanderthals were probably as stupid as we are.

Mikko Tunturi
Mikko Tunturi
12 years ago

There's actually DNA evidence which confirms that neanderthals mated with humans outside africa.

Kateye70
Kateye70
13 years ago

I found it interesting that one of the scientists made the remark that Neanderthals were not as 'unkempt' as previously thought. I've remarked before that healthy animals groom themselves.

It's always the 'other' that we portray as 'dirty', 'unkempt', 'unclean', etc., whether it's the people in the next town or the next country, or of the next religion, or from the previous century or millennium.

And the racism (or 'otherism' if you prefer) in these comments just show our predilection for vilifying the 'other' even if it is our fellow TDF'ers.

IMHO, 'intelligence' is the most misused word in the English language. Yes, some people are more clever than others, in certain, limited ways. Some people run faster or jump higher, too. But even our pets manipulate human behavior, so what does that say about us?

Psycho
Psycho
13 years ago

The smartest human populations are imploding right now. Think about it.

Samuel
Samuel
13 years ago

you guys are stupid

commonsense
commonsense
13 years ago

'But was the real Neanderthal man truly such an intellectual dunce?'

Yes. Its common sense..not common knowledge. Think for yourself.

@ Seth WAKE UP!!!! You are asleep. Watch The Canary Effect found here on TDF. That should help. @ Pyrrhus Huh?? @ J thank you.

'The Real Neanderthal Man looks at modern scientific findings that reveal quite the opposite.' yeah, the Real Neanderthal Man would. Bwaaahahaha!

Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus
13 years ago

@dread; @dreadhateswhite; @Frank; @seth:
Simply because history is immutable does not mean that where we stand is necessarily the best of all possible worlds. It is unknowable whether, had history taken a different turn, we might not be more advanced, or less. The road to the present and beyond is an ongoing summation of much that is to be savored, and of much that is to be mourned. Each individual who plays a part, either willingly, or unwillingly, is as deserving of respect as the other. James Joyce, in his novel, 'Ulysses', has said is best [from memory]:

"Had Pyrrhus not fallen by a beldam's hand at Argos, or Julius Caesar NOT been knifed to death? They are not to be thought away. They are lodged, fettered in the room of the infinite possibilities they have ousted. But can those things have been possible, seeing that they never were? Or was that only possible which came to pass?

"Weave, weaver of the wind."

stat
stat
13 years ago

Wow!Race inspired science?

Ken
Ken
14 years ago

@ seth

To be fair we have kept a lot of those great inventions from Africa on purpose. While China builds coal power plants like mad, we tell Africa (via the UN) that they must only build "sustainable" power sources like wind and solar. So we make the poorest continent try to afford the most expensive forms of power. This is only one example, there is also the oil, coal, copper, bauxite (for aluminum) and many other resources that have led the west to beat down Africa as often as possible.

It is ridiculous to say someone should be grateful for their ancestors being sold into slavery, that is part of the reason Africa is messed up. We all came from Africa, and they hit the bronze age 1000 years before anyone else. Dread is wrong, but I think your reasoning helps also to further the racist ideals.

seth
seth
14 years ago

Dread why are comments like that even necessary? its people like you who keep racism alive and then b@#$ wine when they experience it. I ask you this, seriously, would you rather that slavery had never happened so that you would have been born in one of the shittiest war torn parts of the world? (north west Africa is a dump, and it is black warlords who rule there)

I know slavery was a b@#$%, but if it had not happened that is where you would be. With no computer, medicine, car, air conditioning, plumbing, or any other comfort of life that this oppressive white culture has brought to this landmass through hard work, and ruthless cunning. would you rather have a bone in your nose and be a cannibal?

Have children you cant feed with aids? i doubt it. i am half blood Cherokee and grew up poor as s@#$ due to the long legacy of generational Indian poverty that exists to this day. I don't hate whites, or anyone else. I got a job and worked my a@# off and bettered myself and never looked back. grow up and quit crying about something that happened to your ancestors.

And be honest with yourself and thank your lucky stars that your forefathers were sold into slavery by their own tribe leaders, or you would be in Africa hoping to live another day. I know this comment was not very sensitive , but people like you don't deserve sensitivity, and you certainly don't have it for anyone else.

roland gopel
roland gopel
14 years ago

very interesting.
it looks as if recent studies (May, 2010) indicate hybridization (interbreeding) of neanderthals with cro magnon man.
this might hint at why the celts were physically different from their more southern cousins.
.... but as i wasn't around way back then, there's a limit to how sure i can be about such things.
but still ..... very very interesting.

Frank
Frank
14 years ago

So, why did the disappear?

dreadhateswhite
dreadhateswhite
14 years ago

The Neanderthal man had obviously higher IQ than you dread...

dread
dread
14 years ago

Finally, white man is fixing his European ancestors IQ. how sweet....