Order instructions
Answer the following questions about Neanderthals based on the tutorials, readings, lectures, and the Smithsonian Human Origins Family Tree.
- Identify five specific traits that are different between the skeletons of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens and describe how the two skeletons differ in each trait. For example, you might phrase your answer thusly: Neanderthal have __________, while Homo sapiens have ___________.
- Neanderthals were biologically very well adapted to the cold climate of Ice Age Europe. Discuss the specific skeletal adaptations in Neanderthals that show adaptation to a cold climate. [HINT: There are two specific “rules” discussed in the lecture slides that are necessary to include here.] Be specific and explain.
- Neanderthals were a very sophisticated human species living in the mid-to-late Pleistocene in Europe and Western Asia. What Neanderthal cultural adaptations are apparent from the fossil and artifact records? Be specific and discuss things like subsistence strategy (how they got food), tool technology, and social life and behavior. Be specific.
