"Where Are the Neanderthal-Human Children?"

Neanderthal mother with Neanderthal-Human children (Image Credit: Harvard Magazine)

This post is a follow up to a previous post about Neanderthal-Human relations.  Since the discovery of Neanderthal DNA in modern human DNA there have been additional studies regarding the interactions and sexual relations between Neanderthals and humans.  A common question that my students consistently ask is where are the Neanderthal-human babies that were fathered by human males and birthed from Neanderthal females?  This post will address this question by explaining their existence and eventual extinction.

The discovery of Neanderthal DNA in modern human DNA led scholars to conclude that this was due the sexual relations between Neanderthal males and human females, which has been substantiated through subsequent paleoanthropological discoveries.  But little attention was initially paid to whether or not Neanderthal women and human males also bred, producing similar but different Neanderthal-human hybrids.  This is partially due to the preservation bias against immature bones, which is due to the fragile nature of these remains.  This makes it difficult to discover children in the archaeological record, and it is far more problematic in the paleoanthropological record.  Furthermore, due to some genetic differences between the two species it is not believed that many viable offspring existed, adding to the difficulty in discovering these individuals.  Despite this a Neanderthal-human hybrid born of a Neanderthal mother and fathered by a human father was found at the site of Mezzena in northern Italy.  This individual dates to approximately 40,000 to 30,000 years ago. 

It is believed that this individual would have been raised with its (Neanderthal) mother, which makes sense as breast feeding is the most common means of sustaining a young child and therefore decreases the likelihood of ripping the child from its mother to be raised in its father’s (human) household.  Additional evidence suggests that while Neanderthals and humans may have interbred and coexisted they were not commonly cohabitating in the same households or communities.  The key piece of evidence is the different stone tool traditions that while similar are also distinctly different between Neanderthals (who practiced the Mousterian and Chatelperronian stone tool traditions) and humans (who utilized the Aurignacian stone tool tradition).  Furthermore, while it is clear that both groups were practicing intentional burials they are very rarely found interred together, and when this occurs it is typically a solitary human female with her Neanderthal offspring and mate. 

The voluntary separation of Neanderthals and humans would have separated the Neanderthal-human hybrid offspring by mother, which is what eventually led to the extinction of the hybrids with Neanderthal mothers.  Neanderthals died off for unknown reasons, although it is believed that humans may have played a role in their demise.  Whatever the case may be these offspring would have become extinct as their Neanderthal caregivers died, hence why they do not exist among modern humans today.

So there you have it.  Neanderthal-human hybrid offspring did exist in the past.  Only those born of human mother would have been able and/or allowed to survive, which is why we do not see them existing in our modern populations. 

Bibliography

Feltman, R.  2015.  Neanderthal Hybrid Suggests Modern Humans Bred with Them Much Later Than Thought.  The Washington Post.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/06/22/neanderthal-hybrid-suggests-modern-humans-bred-with-them-much-later-than-thought/

Gibbons, A.  2016.  Modern Human Females and Male Neandertals Had Trouble Making Babies.  Here’s why. Science.  http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/modern-human-females-and-male-neandertals-had-trouble-making-babies-here-s-why

Holloway, A.  2013.  The Controversial Lapedo Child-A Neanderthal/Human Hybrid.  Ancient-Origins.  http://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-science/controversial-lapedo-child-neanderthal-human-hybrid-00903

Letzter, R.  2016.  Here’s Why Human Women Probably Struggled to Have Babies with Neanderthal Men.  Business Insider.  http://www.businessinsider.com/why-human-neanderthal-babies-were-rare-2016-6

Viegas, J.  2013.  First Love Child of Human, Neanderthal Found.  Discovery News.  http://www.livescience.com/28270-neanderthal-skeleton-provides-evidence-of-interbreeding-with-humans.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=most-popular

Viegas, J.  2015.  First Neanderthal-Human ‘Love Child’ from Israel.  Seeker.  http://www.seeker.com/first-neanderthal-human-love-child-from-israel-1769467646.html

Gift Giving Guide: Anthropology Style 6.0

The gift giving holiday season is fast approaching, and if you are in need of a gift for someone who either is an anthropologist or just anthropological minded, check out these great gift ideas! 

For the Cultural Anthropologist

If you know a cultural anthropologist who is either planning on or currently is jet setting around the world (or domestically) this travel wallet may just be the golden ticket for him or her.  This handy item allows for the anthropologist to carry a great many necessities, including a small notebook for field notes, thereby making this an excellent gift.  Check it out through HOUSEofLH.

For the Biological Anthropologist

While not widely discussed there is a field of biological anthropology known as genetic anthropology.  Genetic anthropologist study the genetic materials of living and dead humans, hominids, and non-human primates, which makes this dress by Shenova an amazing gift for the genetic anthropologist that you know.  In addition to this fabulous creation (which can be customized to the wearer's measurements) this amazing designer has an additional dress that is perfect for an isotopic anthropologist or archaeologists who work with ancient dating. 


For the Archaeologist

It may seem rather cliche to get someone a tshirt for the holiday season, but this tshirt is different: it explains how awesome the archaeologist is!  Check out this item by JustTheShirt.  This item comes in various colors and in male and female options.


For the Linguistic Anthropologist

Language is the name of the game for Linguistic Anthropologists, and this artistic language map may pique the interests of the linguists you know.  QuantumPrints makes this unique and vintage inspired design that makes an excellent addition to a home or office setting.   If this piece does not work there are additional pieces that are related to the theme that may.

Spotlight on Students: Focal Language

The Spotlight on Students series features the work of my students, and this edition focuses on focal language.  Students were tasked with identifying and exploring the focal language of a specific cultural group they either were affiliated with or knew about, and the following is an example of student exemplary work.  Be sure to show your appreciation by sharing your thoughts in the comments.

Baseball bat, glove, and ball (Google Images)

By Taner Helton

            This paper is going to be about the focal language of baseball players. Focal language is a language that a certain group of people or a certain culture uses that people outside of that certain group or culture does not understand. (Gezon & Kottak, 2014)  You have to be a part of that culture or group to understand their focal language. There are many cultures and groups that use focal language. I decided to do my paper on the focal language of baseball players because I am familiar with the focal language used in baseball. Since I am familiar with baseball, I will be my own culture informant.

            There are many different terms used in baseball. A lot of people who never watch baseball or never play baseball probably would have a hard time figuring out what the terms mean. The terms that are used in baseball are a part of baseball’s focal language. Every baseball player should be familiar with the focal language of baseball. If a player did not know the focal language, he would have a hard time knowing what is going on.

            Here is a list of ten baseball terms used in baseball’s focal language:

·         Steal: a term used when a player runs from one base to another without a player on his team hitting the ball.

·         Pitch: a term used when the pitcher on a team throws a ball to the catcher.

·         Strike zone: a term used to describe where a pitcher can throw a ball to get a strike.

·         Strike: a term used when the pitcher throws a ball in the strike zone.

·         Ball: a term used when the pitcher throws a ball outside of the strike zone.

·         Walk: a term used when a pitcher throws four balls outside of the strike zone, resulting in the batter getting to go to first base.

·         Strikeout: a term used when a batter misses three balls that are thrown in the strike zone, resulting in that player being called out.

·         Foul: a term used to describe a ball that is hit out of play.

·         Base hit: a term used when a batter hits a ball and gets on base.

·         Home run: a term used when a batter hits a ball over the outfield fence resulting in that player getting to go all the way to home plate.

Focal language is very important to baseball. Baseball uses focal language to describe the rules of the game. All the rules in baseball use terms that are a part of baseball’s focal language.  If you do not know what the terms used in baseball’s focal language, then you will not know anything that is going on. It would be very hard to try and play or watch baseball if you do not know the focal language.

            People that are not familiar with baseballs focal language would have a hard time watching or playing the game. A person would be completely lost if he or she tried to watch a baseball game and did not know what the commentators were saying. It would also be very hard to try and play baseball if you do not know the focal language being used. Baseball uses focal language to describe the rules of the game so if you did not know the focal language then you wouldn’t know how the game is played. Baseball members know all the focal language used and they know what all the terms mean.

            If you are not familiar with baseball’s focal language or any of the terms used in baseball you should not try and play the sport. It would be very difficult to do. Focal language is a huge part of the game. Every player on every team uses focal language in baseball. Also, every team has their own distinct focal language that they use. Teams use different focal language to give signs to each other so the other team does not know what they are saying or doing. Focal language is very important in baseball and always will be.

Bibliography

Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014).  Cultural Anthropology McGraw-Hill