Science
Related: About this forumThe most accurate model of a Neanderthal yet — and he looks just like Chuck Norris
Anthropologists in the UK have constructed a remarkably life-like model of a Neanderthal man from a 70,000 year-old skeleton that was discovered in France over a century ago.
In 1909, scientists discovered the remains of a group of Neanderthals at La Ferrassie cave in the Dordogne region. One of the Neanderthals, which they named La Ferrassie 1, had a skeleton that was particularly well preserved and it was this skeleton that served as the template for the reconstruction. The missing parts the thorax, ribs, pelvis and some spinal pieces were replaced by the bones of a Neanderthal discovered at Kebara Cave in Israel in 1982.
What makes LF1's remains particularly unique is that it features the largest and most complete Neanderthal skull ever found. His leg and foot bones were a revelation to anthropologists at the time as it proved that these hominids walked upright. The skeletal remains also revealed that they were stocky, had strong arms and hands, and they had large skulls that were longer and lower than ours including a sloping forehead and virtually non-existent chin.
The reconstruction itself was performed by a multi-disciplinal team that was comprised of both anthropologists and model makers. And as the BBC reports, the attention to detail was second to none:
They concluded that they would have repeatedly stabbed their prey - the woolly mammoth - with spears, but that the really intense work would have been making garments to survive the cold climate.
A Neanderthal would have needed a new garment every year, which would have been made up of approximately five or six hides. They would have needed to scrape each hide for eight hours to make it wearable.
On the basis of this evidence La Ferrassie 1's muscles, including those in the strong right arm, were reconstructed accordingly and layered on in clay.
more
http://io9.com/5954078/scientists-construct-the-most-accurate-model-of-a-neanderthal-yet--including-all-the-naughty-parts
explains a lot of things...
valerief
(53,235 posts)Warpy
(110,900 posts)them to be quite human looking, people you wouldn't notice much on the subway. They've done one little kid who was downright cute.
But yeah, this guy looked exactly like Chuck Norris.
greyl
(22,990 posts)(not modern human/homo sapiens, but human nonetheless)
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)We're Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
greyl
(22,990 posts)I have no qualms at all with it, though.
KT2000
(20,544 posts)Too funny -
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)I just watched the series on BBC with Professor Roberts and its a great series with the latest findings.
Its called Pre historic Autopsy
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)they may well have been the first head butters in history.