Neanderthal was the story of a small clan of Neanderthals living in South-west France 35,000 years ago. Revealed below are some of the main themes from the two films.
A Neanderthal woman and her daughter hunt for wild boar.
The robust size of Neanderthal women's bones and the number of injuries they reveal suggest there was not a marked division of labour in Neanderthal society; everyone had to actively contribute.
Young and
Old
The old man and young boy are the most vulnerable clan members.
The
fossil record shows that nearly half of all children died before reaching
the age of 11. Four out of five Neanderthals never saw their 40th birthday.
Territory
Within the borders of their territory, three adult men hunt for deer.
We
know that Neanderthal clans were territorial because tools and animal
remains unearthed in their caves all come from areas close-by, suggesting
they operated within a territorial boundary.
Camping
Out
As darkness falls, the men make a temporary camp for the night.
On
the exposed mountain ridges in Southwest France, evidence of over 100
temporary camps have been found, the charred remains of fire a feature
of every one.
Abduction
On the edge of their territory, the men abduct a female from another
clan.
Neanderthal
territoriality suggests that clans were male-kin bonded. This means they
were organised around fathers, brothers and sons. In this kind of society,
women are transient. They move from group to group. Female abduction may
have occurred if Neanderthals came in contact with a rival clan. Exchanges
may also have been peaceful.
Language
The clan communicate using a simple language.
Reconstructions
of Neanderthal throat anatomy provide good evidence that they could speak.
Their social organisation was probably not complicated enough to require
language as complex as ours.
Environment
While crossing a river, the new female slips and is swept away.
Many
adult Neanderthal fossils have serious injuries, suggesting that their
life was extremely dangerous. Just negotiating the freezing environment
could be as perilous as hunting.
Hunt
The adult males strategically run a deer to its death over the edge
of a cliff.
Accumulations
of animal bones at the bottom of cliffs suggest that one Neanderthal hunting
strategy was to chase animals over headlands. This helped Neanderthals
reduce the risk of injuring themselves.
Strength
After the hunt, the men carry the deer back to their cave - 6 miles
away.
Neanderthal
bones reveal that their lives were extremely physically demanding. Short,
thick and bowed, their bones helped to counter fatigue and resist the
pressures exerted on them.
Food
To cope with the physical demands of their lives, Neanderthals could
burn up to 7,000 calories per day.
Extremely
high levels of carbon and nitrogen in Neanderthal bone confirms that up
to 85% of their diet was meat, the best source of protein and energy available
to them.
Grooming
The clan can spend up to 4 hours per day grooming each other.
Based
on the limitations of their language and the small size of their groups,
some experts believe that grooming would have been a critical form of
communication that helped to bind the clan together.
Contact
The youngest Neanderthal brother comes face to face with a tall, dark
stranger. His world will never be the same again.
The
fossil record shows that around 35,000 years ago, a second species of
human arrived in Southwest France, the Cro-Magnons. Within a few thousand
years, Neanderthals had disappeared from this area of Europe.
The clan's weapons are effective, but they show little innovation.
The archaeological record shows that Neanderthal tools did not change significantly for almost 200,000 years. They did not need or were unable to innovate.
Progress
The young Neanderthal male attempts to pierce a shell. Imitating the
jewellery of the Cro-Magnons.
35,000
years ago, Neanderthal tool making techniques began to change. Some even
started to make jewellery. This development coincides with the arrival
of the Cro-Magnons, suggesting they may have influenced the Neanderthals.
Scavenging
Hungry and desperate, the clan's three women scavenge a dead mammoth.
Animal
skulls and hooves found in some Neanderthal caves could represent scavenging:
these body parts contain vital reserves of fat which, in the absence of
anything else, could keep Neanderthals alive.
Birth
The young female goes into labour. An extremely dangerous time for
her.
Neanderthals
were, on average, heavier and more strongly built than we are, so their
babies may have been larger than modern babies and just as difficult to
deliver.
Infanticide
The dominant female kills the new baby to lessen the burden on the
rest of the clan.
At
a cave in Israel, 2 tiny skeletons were discovered among animal bones
and other Neanderthal litter. As Neanderthals sometimes buried their dead,
the treatment of these babies suggests to some they may not have been
valued. Like other early hunter gatherers, Neanderthals may even have
been killed their offspring if they did not have the resources to look
after them.
Conflict
The Cro-Magnons attack the dominant male, spearing him in the back.
While
there is no direct evidence of conflict between the two species, the shift
from Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon settlements in this part of France was
swift, suggesting that levels of competition were high.
