Category: History Stuff

Did Neanderthals Capture Golden Eagles?

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When you ask the average person what a neanderthal is, the most likely answer that one is going to receive is that a neanderthal is an insult that is meant to call someone stupid or an idiot. This is in reference to the commonly believed notion that neanderthals were stupid, which is why they eventually died off all those years ago. But, according to new research, we may have actually learned something from our seemingly dumber hominin cousins.

What anthropologists were trying to link was golden eagles to neanderthals, claiming that they could have trapped the animal some 130,000 years ago. So, they went and reviewed so golden eagle bones at specific sights where neanderthal remains were known to be and they were able to examine that at places where little meat would be found on the bird, there were cut marks. These marks suggest that Neanderthals would take the feathers off of the bird (since the wings had very little meat), and similar cuts were found by the leg and foot bones as well.

While no neanderthal jewelry has been found with a golden eagle part as of yet, other eagles have. The talons of a white-tailed eagle have been found around a neanderthal necklace in 2015, suggesting there could be a chance that neanderthals did the same for the golden eagles as well.

The suggestion that we learned this from neanderthals stems from the fact that neanderthals were thought to have been making this type of jewelry for thousands of years before we did, leading scientists to believe that we may have taken the idea from neanderthals initially.

Or we both could have just had the same idea. We might never know for sure.

The Denisovans Could Have Mated With Humans More Recently Than Previously Thought

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Everyone has heard the common insult of calling someone a neanderthal, as if to call them stupid or dumb due to the stigma behind neanderthals as also being stupid creatures. Calling someone a Denisovan, however, does not roll off the tongue quite the same. Besides, most people are not really sure what Denisovans are in the first place.

Denisovans are an extinct creature from the genus homo, and are speculated to have lived with homo sapiens (us) and the neanderthals for a period of time before dying off.

This map displays what area the Denisovans are thought to have existed; from Russia all the way down to New Guinea.

Very little is known about the Denisovans due to the lack of fossils found. The only fossils to have been found have all been in one place called Denisova Cave, and all fossils are fragments and do not give great insight into how one of these creatures may have looked.

But recently, a new study suggests that they may have interacted with humans some 15,000-30,000 years ago, which is drastically different than what was previously thought. As paleoanthropologist Chris Strigner points out, “A late surviving lineage [of Denisovans] could have interbred with Homo sapiens.”

Of course, some in the science communities following this study are skeptical of the claims that have been made, thinking that the estimate of interbreeding from 15,000-30,000 years ago is too recent.

Without better fossil records of the Denisovans, it will be impossible to confirm whether these estimates are science fact or science fiction. Needless to say, more studies need to be done in order to unravel the truth about our little known cousins.