MemberlistThe Library Index  FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   RegisterRegister   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
Naturally occurring biological warfare. (NEW CONCEPTS)
Reply to topic Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
View previous topic :: View next topic  
GrouchoMarxthespot



View user's profile
Reply with quote

You may well be correct in doubting the efficacy of vaccination programmes.

I originally raised the issue of the effect of incoming diseases to indigenous populations because of an interest in what happened to the Neanderthals.

I still wonder at the asymmetry of incomers having an advantage and natives no advantage at all.
Send private message
Boreades


In: finity and beyond
View user's profile
Reply with quote

GrouchoMarxthespot wrote:
... an interest in what happened to the Neanderthals.


I'm interested in the idea that they failed to adapt when endurance pursuit (by home sapiens) became more effective than ambush hunting (by Neanderthals).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting
Send private message
GrouchoMarxthespot



View user's profile
Reply with quote

Isn't ambush hunting more efficient?
Send private message
Boreades


In: finity and beyond
View user's profile
Reply with quote

GrouchoMarxthespot wrote:
Isn't ambush hunting more efficient?


It is, when the landscape provides cover for ambushes. e.g. well forested areas. But if the forests are cleared and become grasslands, there aren't many places to hide and ambush your prey.
Send private message
GrouchoMarxthespot



View user's profile
Reply with quote

Boreades wrote:
GrouchoMarxthespot wrote:
Isn't ambush hunting more efficient?


It is, when the landscape provides cover for ambushes. e.g. well forested areas. But if the forests are cleared and become grasslands, there aren't many places to hide and ambush your prey.


A very tempting hypothesis. It is quite possible that human navigation required a good view of the sky, and so forests were disadvantageous in this respect. In effect, what you are proposing is that a kind of cultural 'trade off' occurred between easier navigation on the one hand against a more wasteful hunting system on the other.

Attractive...but we know that large parts of the European Neanderthal area remained afforrested until long after their disappearance. Why didn't they just hunker down and exploit their advantages in terms of knowledge of the terrain?

Which brings us back to disease as the toxic outriders of the invaders.
Send private message
Jorn



View user's profile
Reply with quote

GrouchoMarxthespot wrote:
Attractive...but we know that large parts of the European Neanderthal area remained afforrested until long after their disappearance. Why didn't they just hunker down and exploit their advantages in terms of knowledge of the terrain?




Spot the difference?

From accidents alone we know that the forehead is where the higher cognitive processes takes place.

The Neanderthals died out because they were too dumb.

We are not supposed to notice these things today, because all "civilized" people know that all the human races have the same intellectual potential.
Send private message
Boreades


In: finity and beyond
View user's profile
Reply with quote

But some Neanderthals are still alive and well and playing Rugby!



Send private message
Free-Radical



View user's profile
Reply with quote

Jorn wrote:
GrouchoMarxthespot wrote:
Attractive...but we know that large parts of the European Neanderthal area remained afforrested until long after their disappearance. Why didn't they just hunker down and exploit their advantages in terms of knowledge of the terrain?




Spot the difference?

From accidents alone we know that the forehead is where the higher cognitive processes takes place.

The Neanderthals died out because they were too dumb.

We are not supposed to notice these things today, because all "civilized" people know that all the human races have the same intellectual potential.


This is a misinterpretation of the different skull shape. The actual brain is about the same size as ours, perhaps slightly larger. And not very differently shaped. The brain case is connected to the face in a different way, resulting in less forehead projecting above the face. The larger and stronger jaw also makes the rest of the skull look smaller. It isn't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_anatomy

While the structure of the head and face were not very far removed from those of modern humans, there were still quite noticeable differences. Notably the Neanderthal head was shorter and with a less pronounced facial front. Chin and forehead sloped backwards and the nose region protruded forward more than in modern humans. The common shapes of the nose are not known but in general it was likely more robust, and possibly slightly larger, than in modern humans. The brain space of the skull, and so most likely the brain itself, were larger than in modern humans.
Send private message
GrouchoMarxthespot



View user's profile
Reply with quote

When attention is drawn to the advantages of (early) modern humans compared to Neanderthals it is often described as a competitive advantage. But why?

When you consider the very low population density across Europe there was no shortage of natural resources - in any social group, it was people themselves who were in short supply. Muscle power, tools to maximise this, plus human ingenuity were the key commodities, and there is no reason to believe that the Neanderthals didn't have these.

When you consider the vast uninhabited areas there must have been many social groups of Neanderthals who never saw an unknown Neanderthal, let alone an incoming early modern human.

In short, there was plenty of room for both, and for a very long time too.
Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3

Jump to:  
Page 3 of 3

MemberlistThe Library Index  FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   RegisterRegister   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group