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Neanderthals: More advanced than thought?
Researchers from University College London's Institute of Archaeology say the excavation of a site near Pulborough is providing evidence of a thriving, developing population, rather than communities on the verge of extinction.
"The tools we've found at the site are technologically advanced and potentially older than tools in Britain belonging to our own species, Homo sapiens," said University College London senior research fellow Matthew Pope, who led the study. "It's exciting to think that there's a real possibility these were left by some of the last Neanderthal hunting groups to occupy northern Europe.
"The impression they give is of a population in complete command of both landscape and natural raw materials, with a flourishing technology -- not a people on the edge of extinction."
The excavation marks the first modern, scientific investigation of the site since its discovery in 1900.
A paper on the tools found at the site is reported in the journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
This news arrived on: 06/26/2008
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Posted Comments:
07-01-2008 09:19
John U.K. wrote:
"Neanderthals: More advanced than thought?":
This story suggests that Neanderthals were either one or the other, technologically advanced or on the edge of extinction. In fact, clearly, they were *both*; the tools etc. show that they were technologically more advanced than was previously thought yet they *were* on the edge of extinction nonetheless. This is because they didn't become extinct for want of technology but for environmental reasons.
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