Secrets of Neantherthal
- Thread starter Yetos
- Start date
I saw the trailer on Netflix too, but it doesn't look very serious (like lots of documentaries). I was completely put off by the beginning of the trailer.
They say "Over 300,000 years ago Neanderthals spread from Russia to the Atlantic coast until suddenly they disappeared. What went wrong?" There was nothing sudden about the disappearance of Neanderthals. They started being replaced by Homo sapiens in the Near East some 60–50,000 years ago, but they survived in southern Spain until as late as 28,000 years ago. I wouldn't call a progressive disappearance/replacement over 22,000 to 32,000 years "sudden".
Then of course they didn't disappear but intermingled with Homo sapiens. It's just that H. sapiens's population grew faster (higher fertility rate?), so that the new hybrid population had much less Neanderthal DNA. It's a bit like when Europeans colonised North America, Australia or New Zealand; they overwhelmed the natives, even if they did mix with some of them.
They say "Over 300,000 years ago Neanderthals spread from Russia to the Atlantic coast until suddenly they disappeared. What went wrong?" There was nothing sudden about the disappearance of Neanderthals. They started being replaced by Homo sapiens in the Near East some 60–50,000 years ago, but they survived in southern Spain until as late as 28,000 years ago. I wouldn't call a progressive disappearance/replacement over 22,000 to 32,000 years "sudden".
Then of course they didn't disappear but intermingled with Homo sapiens. It's just that H. sapiens's population grew faster (higher fertility rate?), so that the new hybrid population had much less Neanderthal DNA. It's a bit like when Europeans colonised North America, Australia or New Zealand; they overwhelmed the natives, even if they did mix with some of them.
This thread has been viewed 191 times.