[ad_1]
As is evident from the tens of thousands of years that modern humans have spent on this planet, we can be a violent species. Human beings tend to take what they want, wiping out everything in their way.
Neanderthals, who were closely related cousins of humans, may have suffered a similar fate when our ancestors first arrived in Europe some 45,000 years ago, when they first spread out of Africa.
While Neanderthals are considered primitive versions of humans, they were actually largely successful beings in the evolutionary tree.
They conquered Europe and then Asia, while humans remained in Africa.
Unfortunately for Neanderthals, humans were more adaptable and would seem more territorial.
While the evidence shows that humans and Neanderthals interacted and even mated, as evidenced by the presence of Neanderthal genes in all non-African populations, a battle for supremacy across the planet was bound to take place.
And so it was, with some archaeologists claiming that humans attacked Neanderthals in what could be considered the first acts of warfare in our history.
Within a few thousand years of humans arriving in Europe, the Neanderthals had disappeared.
Neanderthal remains have been discovered with some head injuries that have suffered an attack with a blunt instrument, while mass graves of Neanderthals have also been found.
READ MORE: Archeology: Climate change has led Neanderthals to improve tools
However, what the researchers have tried to define is “what is an act of war?”
Bournemouth University scientists Martin Smith and John Stewart wrote in an article for The Conversation: “A key point is that a very particular kind of logic comes into play where every member of an opposing group is seen as representing their entire community. , and so it becomes a “valid goal”.
“For example, one group could kill a member of another group as punishment for a raid in which the victim was not involved.
“In this sense, warfare is a state of mind that involves abstract and lateral thinking as much as a set of physical behaviors.
“Such acts of war can then be perpetrated (usually by males) against women and children as well as men, and we have evidence of this behavior among the skeletons of early modern humans.”
NOT TO BE MISSED
Scientists will use Neanderthal DNA to cultivate “MINI-BRAINS”
Artistic shock as the earliest cave paintings were created by Neanderthals
Scientists discover new species of humans
Furthermore, it is impossible to say whether Neanderthals can actually conceptualize what warfare is.
The duo continued: “While there is no doubt that Neanderthals have committed violent acts, the extent to which they have been able to conceptualize ‘war’ as it is understood by modern human cultures is questionable.
“It is certainly possible that violent altercations took place when members of the small scattered populations of these two species came into contact (although we have no conclusive evidence for such), but these cannot realistically be characterized as warfare.
“On the larger question of whether modern humans were responsible for the extinction of Neanderthals, it is worth noting that Neanderthals in many parts of Europe appear to have become extinct before the arrival of our species.
“This suggests that modern humans cannot be fully blamed, either for warfare or competition.”
[ad_2]
Source link
