Archaeologica.org

As I said, there is no evidence of conflict in the Levant, in the whole 20,000 yrs. they lived in proximity. Quite the opposite actually.

Cognito wrote: Beags, there is no evidence anywhere that there were ever any hostilities between the two groups. By "winning" in Israel I was stating that Neanderthals repopulated an area where HSS disappeared, either by hybridization or otherwise. It's a situation that fits Wolpoff's multi-regionalist views, but cannot be reconciled by OOA.

Maybe there is no evidence they were hostile but really there is very little, they cooperated. It seems the evidence is, they lived in close proximity. But what happens when the resources get short and the babies are crying from hunger? They either migrate away or they fight for whats left.

I'm wondering what would happen if one of our universities were to offer a degree course in stupidity or common sense removal.

Researchers have uncovered more than 10,000 short stretches of what may be functional DNA in parts of the human genome with no obvious role—the so-called junk DNA that makes up 95 percent of the genome. The segments appear to be fragments of transposons, pieces of DNA capable of copying themselves and inserting into new locations, up to millions of times.

The segments appear to be fragments of transposons, pieces of DNA capable of copying themselves and inserting into new locations, up to millions of times.

For nearly a century, anthropologists have been debating the relationship of Neandertals to modern humans. Central to the debate is whether Neandertals contributed directly or indirectly to the ancestry of the early modern humans that succeeded them.

As this discussion has intensified in the past decades, it has become the central research focus of Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Trinkaus has examined the earliest modern humans in Europe, including specimens in Romania, Czech Republic and France. Those specimens, in Trinkaus' opinion, have shown obvious Neandertal ancestry.

In an article appearing the week of April 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Trinkaus has brought together the available data, which shows that early modern humans did exhibit evidence of Neandertal traits.

"When you look at all of the well dated and diagnostic early modern European fossils, there is a persistent presence of anatomical features that were present among the Neandertals but absent from the earlier African modern humans," Trinkaus said. "Early modern Europeans reflect both their predominant African early modern human ancestry and a substantial degree of admixture between those early modern humans and the indigenous Neandertals."

This analysis, along with a number of considerations of human genetics, argues that the fate of the Neandertals was to be absorbed into modern human groups. Just as importantly, it also says that the behavioral difference between the groups were small. They saw each other as social equals.

Beagle wrote:http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 042307.php

For nearly a century, anthropologists have been debating the relationship of Neandertals to modern humans. Central to the debate is whether Neandertals contributed directly or indirectly to the ancestry of the early modern humans that succeeded them.

As this discussion has intensified in the past decades, it has become the central research focus of Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Trinkaus has examined the earliest modern humans in Europe, including specimens in Romania, Czech Republic and France. Those specimens, in Trinkaus' opinion, have shown obvious Neandertal ancestry.

In an article appearing the week of April 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Trinkaus has brought together the available data, which shows that early modern humans did exhibit evidence of Neandertal traits.

"When you look at all of the well dated and diagnostic early modern European fossils, there is a persistent presence of anatomical features that were present among the Neandertals but absent from the earlier African modern humans," Trinkaus said. "Early modern Europeans reflect both their predominant African early modern human ancestry and a substantial degree of admixture between those early modern humans and the indigenous Neandertals."

This analysis, along with a number of considerations of human genetics, argues that the fate of the Neandertals was to be absorbed into modern human groups. Just as importantly, it also says that the behavioral difference between the groups were small. They saw each other as social equals.

No need to click on the link, this is the entire statement. Trinkaus seems to be making a declarative statement here, that Neandertal evolved by genetically merging with other humans to become modern Europeans.

Trinkaus seems to be taking a professional stand in advance of any statement by Paabo et al. I think he must be aware of where their progress is at this point and what their ultimate conclusions will be, so this is very interesting. I don't think any one person has done as much as Trinkaus in keeping this issue on the front burner, even in the light of recent genetic findings. Go Eric, go.

Beagle wrote:Exactly Charlie. That's what many of us have been saying for a long time.