Neanderthal Man (Pt 2)

(continued from PT 1 NEANDERTHAL MAN)

Fossil remains of what is now referred to as Neanderthal man were first discovered in 1856 in Neander Valley, Germany; (hence the name, Neanderthal.) At the time of discovery, the bones found were simply thought to be normal human bones by their discoverer, but as some specimens that were subsequently found at the site were stooped over and looked like they may have had “protruding” eyebrows this original assumption of them being "human" was considered a mistake. Other conclusions about them were suggested and new ideas came to light.

At the time, particularly in certain scientific circles, Charles Darwin’s publications of Evolutionary thought were being circulated by the scientific world. There were many debates about what these very old, physically stooped, human-like remains were and weren’t until finally, in 1908, the Institute of Human Paleontology in Paris made an official declaration. they deemed that “Neanderthal” was not human at all. He was labeled, "Paleolithic." meaning that he was from the second part of the Stone Age, (beginning about 750,00 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age which according to the dictionary was about 8,500 years BC.

As a member of the Paleolithic people group that lived during the Stone Age, Neanderthal hunted and gathered his food. School textbooks and scientific museums told the public that Neanderthal was very primitive, lived in caves, defended himself with only rocks and sticks as he roamed the land, hunting and gathering fish, birds, elephants and bison for food with his microlithic tools. He is described as a Homo Sapien Neanderthalensis, something very different from Homo Erectus, (Peking Man) yet very different from “Homo Sapiens Sapiens.” (Cro-magnon man. ) Anybody with keen scientific intellect could obviously see what Neanderthal was and wasn’t.

Homo Neanderthalensis, was labeled inferior, a subspecies of our own group. It was believed that he could not speak, let alone read and write. He was savage, trying to survive in the wilderness, perhaps with only his small clan. Stooped and slouchy, hair covered, using grunts in order to communicate instead of words, we saw more proof of this thing called evolution. After all, look how far advanced man had become since the Neanderthal days!

But today, years later, educated men of science have new information about Neanderthal man. It seems they have newly discovered that they were wrong. The new theory is that Neanderthal was not even close to being human. In fact, the current teaching is that Neanderthal is totally unrelated to the Homo Sapien though they coexisted during the same time. He was co-existent with the Cro-Magnon, but died out as Cro-Magnon took over and populated the planet. Cro-Magnon man is the species that is believed to have evolved into what we people are today.

The change in understanding came about because in 1950, learned professionals uncovered a truth that could not be denied: Neanderthal stooped, not because he was more ape-like, but as a result of suffering from osteo-arthritis. Besides that, unearthed artifacts made it obvious that despite the conjecture, Neanderthal used both stone and iron tools. No longer half man, half ape, he took a huge jump on the evolutionary timetable, for now he had to be more human than previously declared. Then things changed again when someone discovered Neanderthal’s hyoid bone.

The hyoid bone is a special bone and what is remarkable about it is is that it's a bone that only humans have. It's a special bone that allows us the ability to communicate with words. With the discovery that Neanderthal man, like humans, had a hyoid bone, it had to be considered that Neanderthal probably spoke as well as you or I.

With all these discoveries, it had to be noted that the previous Darwinian evolutionary concepts about Neanderthal that had been put forth in the scientific world were completely wrong. Many people had to look at the facts and simply change their minds. Suddenly Neanderthal, was not a "subhuman, lower life form" or some Stone Age “caveman” as had been believed and taught for decades; he was intelligent. If they did not admit he was actually, “human,” evolutionists were forced to admit in all honesty that he was at least “more human” than they had previously thought. But the discoveries did not stop there.

The most surprising discovery happened in the 1990’s. It was the discovery of a “Neanderthalic flute.” The flute was simply a piece of bone that had holes for various sounds carved into it, but another landmark had been uncovered. Neanderthal not only had some kind of language but he was creative and expressed himself with notes of music. He also worked with tools. We also know from these subsequent discoveries that Neanderthals came in various sizes, some nearly as tall as modern day humans and that they suffered the same diseases that we do. It would appear that perhaps the original discoverer was right: These ancient bones are the bones of humans. Remarkably, the scientific community that desires to hold on to their belief in evolution still deny the possibility. They claim to know this because of DNA testing.

According to William Goodwin, a scientific researcher at the University of Glasco, UK commenting on Neanderthal and the relationship to modern man, was quoted in a BBC article dated March 2000, “Though they co-existed, we can't find any evidence of genetic material being passed from Neanderthals to modern humans.” Apparently DNA now proves there is no connection.

In March 2005 I saw an article from the Dolan DNA Learning Center in New York crediting the researchers there for being the first scientists to reconstruct a “Neanderthal” skeleton. At the time of this writing, anyone could visit their website at: www.dnalc.org/neandertal.html and view the skeleton they constructed alongside that of a human skeleton to compare and contrast how different and alike they were, so I did.

The Dolan Neanderthal skeleton was said to be 5 ft. 5 in. tall. It stood displayed beside a “human” (Homo Sapien) skeleton in a room at the center. The literature said that the Neanderthal skeleton was pieced together from various fossil finds, that is, from various locations. It was not constructed from one fossil find because there has never been an excavation with bones completely in tact. I read that it was also not completely made of "Neanderthal' bones. some of the bones used were "human." This didn't stop them from making the claim that they were the first to reconstruct a “complete” Neanderthal skeleton for the world to see.

The two skeletons looked remarkably similar, though they did have notable coloring differences. They even stand within inches of height besides one another. Still at the Dolan webpage Gary Sawyer, one of the skeleton architects was quoted as saying, “We noticed one interesting thing was that these are kind of a short, squat people. These guys had no waist at all — they were compact, dwarfy-like beings."

Compact? Dwarfy-like? I have seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs... the skeleton in the picture on the web, was not what I would label dwarfy. Dwarfy, would indicate small. This was completely illogical to consider since it was nearly the same height as the human's skeletal remains, similar in height, size and form. The skeleton is neither short, nor squat, nor dwarfy. The skeleton is 5’5’’ tall!

People just simply see what they want to see. In fact, the concept of evolutionary evidences is more and more reminiscent of a fairy tale.