I’m a Neanderthal. Part Neanderthal, anyway. At least, that is what my Ancestry DNA results showed.
That means that way back when, like 45,000 years ago, my great Grandma Ughnh got busy with my great Grandpa Ooohg. And Grandma Ughnh happened to be one super-hot babe of a Neanderthal, but Grandpa Ooogh did give a homosapien’s rat’s ass about her being a Neander. He had it bad for Ughnh.
And here I am today.
So, with a last name like Kronenberger, it is quite fitting that proof of this comes from the rolling hills of central-eastern Germany. That’s where my people are from. Yes. This story travels all the way from a place nestled near the quaint town of Ranis. But from a cave.
And in that cave lies a secret that has been unlocked after more than 45,000 years. This secret reveals a time when our human ancestors shared the cold, vast landscapes of Northern Europe with the Neanderthals. Woot. Like I said. My grandparents.
But seriously. Recent discoveries at this archaeological site have now shed light on this exceptional moment in human history. The intersection of Humans and Neanderthals. The new findings show that Homo sapiens ventured further north much earlier than previously believed. What’s more, they did so during a particularly grueling cold period.
And how does one get warm? Well, sharing furry body heat is one option.
Not one but three studies have revealed all of this. For a long time, it has been a mystery how these two species met. But now, these studies have revealed the answer.
Before this, Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals had split from a common ancestor more than 600,000 years ago, diverging from Homo heidelbergensis or Homo antecessor or perhaps another species. The scientists are not quite sure yet about the big “split.”
But now they have found ancient artifacts, bone fragments, and precious DNA samples that all fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. And all of it was discovered in this German cave in Ranis.
I won’t go into all the details of the find. However, what they concluded from the discovery of all this evidence was that the DNA from the bones and the tools were human. This meant that humans were there 45,000 years ago on the stomping grounds of the Neanderthals.
And the scientists have known for a long time that modern humans and Neanderthals met and mingled. They even interbred. (See Polly.). So much that up to 2% of the DNA of people of European or Asian ancestry is Neanderthal.
These new findings show that Homo sapiens were undoubtedly in central and northwestern Europe, right alongside the Neanderthals. I should add that the Neanderthals perished around 40,000 years ago. No one knows why they vanished.
Anyway. Just imagine, for thousands of years, Europe was shared by two distinct species of humans. They traded things, they had sex with one another, and they probably ended up fighting each other for control of dwindling resources in times of climate change.
All of this is an entertaining thought to ponder. However, the new findings can’t say anything about how exactly Neanderthals went extinct. That’s still a big yet very open question.
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“In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, bridge to our future.”
– Alex Haley
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“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without roots.”
– Chinese Proverb
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“Honoring our ancestors means recognizing that we are the beneficiaries of the lives, sacrifices, and struggles of those who came before us.”
– Judy F. Olson
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Clip source: How a German cave is rewriting the story of how early humans and Neanderthals first clashed
You can tell by looking at my eyebrows, I’d say.
