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There is growing evidence to support the view that the coexistence of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals was not characterized by peace and mutual acceptance. The two human races were at regular war with each other, characterized by raids like lightning, savage melee that shattered bones and skulls, writes Nicholas R. Longrich, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Bath in the UK. Although Neanderthals initially held the flag, the ingenuity and adaptability of our ancestors ultimately led Homo sapiens to victory.
About 600,000 years ago, mankind split into two parts. One group stayed in Africa, they evolved to become the modern man living today, the other part went ahead and settled in Asia, Europe. From the latter came the Neanderthal man. Contrary to popular belief, they were not our ancestors, but can be called our cousins.
To this day, Neanderthals are an active occupation of both scientists and laymen; The question arises as to what they could have become and how they would have shaped the destiny of humanity had they not disappeared from the stage of life. Many times an idyllic image of them lives in our head, and we consider them a peaceful race that lived in harmony with nature and their relatives, that is, with us. According to Longrich, this idea is far from reality.
Recent findings by biologists and paleontologists have shed light on the true nature of Neanderthals; they were trained warriors, dangerous hunters, worthy opponents of our ancestors.
Condemned to continuous conquest
Terrestrial predators, especially those that hunt in groups, are characterized by territorial behavior. Like lions and wolves, representatives of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals worked together to drop the most dangerous prey. We are talking about large predators that hardly have natural enemies. If an external factor is not able to regulate the populations, there is a problem of overpopulation, the given species grows outside the hunting area, it is necessary to look for new ones. This causes conflicts between different groups.
Territorial conflicts are not only characteristic of humans, but also of our closest relatives living today, chimpanzees. Numerous observations show that male chimpanzees deliberately attack and kill the rivals of rival groups, and this behavior is eerily reminiscent of human warfare.
The propensity for war, or cooperative aggression in professional parlance, is therefore not a product of the modern era, it appeared 7 million years ago as the common ancestor of man and chimpanzees. If the theory is correct, then Neanderthals were no different than us, Longrich believes.
They remembered us in every way
If we take a closer look at the history of mankind, it is full of wars, based on written and archaeological evidence, not only in the modern era, but in the past, thousands of years ago, we fell down our throats for a variety of reasons.
Neanderthals reminded us of many things; Not only did their skulls and skeletons have similar structures, their DNA was 99.7 percent identical to ours. They knew how to light a fire, they made jewelry out of shells and teeth, they drew diagrams.
From our own point of view, it is highly likely that Neanderthals not only had an instinct for creativity, but destructiveness remained there as well. Longrich explains.
Ancient War Evidence
According to Longrich, much can be said about the life of Neanderthal man, but not that it would have been peaceful.
Neanderthals hunted big game in hordes with spears. It is almost certain that they took up arms in the same way when rival groups threatened their families, their lands.
Recent physical evidence also suggests that such intergroup conflicts have been common.
Prehistoric warfare has well identifiable traces. The pull, for example, was a popular weapon, not by accident: fast and accurate, it can be used to measure a powerful blow to an opponent.
Clearly traumatic injuries caused by pulling have been identified several times in contemporary Homo sapiens and Neanderthal skulls.
Researchers also often find fractures that suggest a defense; Many archaic Homo sapiens and broken Neanderthal forearms are found. A Neanderthal body discovered in an Iraqi cave was pierced with a spear.
Fatal traumatic injuries are particularly common in younger Neanderthal males.
However, there is increasing evidence that a significant proportion of these were not acquired through hunting, but through tribal conflict.
Ancient wars were characterized not by grandiose battles, but by quick raids, guerilla battles, although minor battles may have occurred, Longrich writes.
Neanderthal resistance
According to Longrich, the Neanderthals proved to be a tenacious adversary; they persisted for at least 100,000 years and hindered the expansion of modern man.
Why did it take so long to get out of Africa? It was not unfavorable environmental conditions that slowed the process, but Neanderthals, who were already present in Europe and Asia at that time. “ The evolutionary biologist wrote, who said it was highly unlikely that the two human races would fit together peacefully. Population growth and scarcity of resources have forced both sides to relentlessly expand, leading to inevitable conflicts.
Initially, the Neanderthals successfully defended their territories as they were in a more tactically and strategically advantageous position; they knew their habitat well, they knew what the seasons were, the terrain, what plants and animals were edible. Their physique was also as if they were designed to fight; their robust and muscular stature made them a dangerous adversary in close combat. With their large eyes, they could see well even in worse light conditions, so they could hit the enemy at night.
Did the ingenuity of Homo sapiens reverse the war?
Why Homo sapiens finally emerged victorious from the long war remains a mystery.
According to Longrich, it was probably the advent of long-range weapons that decided everything, and modern man has already easily defeated the toughest Neanderthals with this military development.
It is also inconceivable that we hunted and gathered more successfully than our extinct relatives, could feed larger groups, and thus eventually become overwhelmed.
Whatever the truth, Longrich said the Neanderthals’ perseverance made homo sapiens very difficult.
Although, as far as we know, our ancestors left Africa 200,000 years ago, it took about 150,000 years to conquer the lands of the Neanderthals.
The writing is based on the work of Nicholas R. Longrich, the original article can be read here.
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