Socializing with Neanderthals

Neanderthals lived in a closed-knit family. Discoveries of elderly or deformed skeletons suggest that they took care of their sick and those who could not care for themselves. The usual life span of Neanderthals is about 30 years old, though some lived longer. It is accepted that Neanderthals buried their dead, though whether or not they left carved bone shards as grave goods is debated.

It is not known if they had language, though the large size and complex nature of their brains make it plausible.

Neanderthals used stone tools similar to the ones used by other early humans, including blades and scrapers made from stone flakes. As time went on, they created tools of greater complexity, utilizing materials like bones and antlers.

These species used a type of adhesive, and later pitch, then attach stone tips to wooden shafts and creating formidable hunting spears.

Neanderthals had some control of fire, and it is even theorized that they built boats and sailed on the Mediterranean.

Neanderthals were primarily carnivorous due to the harsh climate caused them to resort occasionally to cannibalism. Recently, however, scientists have found that Neanderthals actually ate cooked vegetables fairly regularly. 

It’s a mystery why Neanderthals went extinct and why Homo sapiens survived. Some scholars theorize that gradual or dramatic climate change led them to their demise, while others blame dietary deficiencies. There are theories also surfaced that humans killed the Neanderthals. Until recently the hypothesis that Neanderthals didn’t go extinct but simply interbred with humans until they were absorbed into our species was popular.