[extropy-chat] cosmic silence

[BillK]

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 18:26:43 -0800 (PST), Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I recalled the paleontologists digging at the site talking about it on
> a tv documentary at the time they were getting a lot of exposure.
> 

And this justifies making sweeping claims that homo sap had
Neanderthal and fries for dinner ??!!  :)   Pre-history anthropology
is a bit more complicated than that.

The Atapuerca finds pre-date both homo sapiens and homo
neanderthalensis. The bones do appear to show signs of cannibalism.
There is some speculation that they might be the last remnants of a
common ancestor. Apparently there were many different species of
hominids living at the same time in early pre-history.

See: <http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html>

"Homo antecessor was named in 1977 from fossils found at the Spanish
cave site of Atapuerca, dated to at least 780,000 years ago, making
them the oldest confirmed European hominids. The mid-facial area of
antecessor seems very modern, but other parts of the skull such as the
teeth, forehead and browridges are much more primitive. Many
scientists are doubtful about the validity of antecessor, partly
because its definition is based on a juvenile specimen, and feel it
may belong to another species. (Bermudez de Castro et al. 1997; Kunzig
1997, Carbonell et al. 1995)".

Also see: <http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/homoneaderthalensis.htm>

"The eventual fate of the Neanderthals in the modern human phylogeny
is still a much questioned issue, and a vigorously debated one.
However, one thing is certain, the issue is not as cut and dry as many
supporters of the Out of Africa II theory oftentimes claim. It seems
highly unlikely that the Neanderthals contributed absolutely nothing
to the modern genome, but whether they left a large heritage in modern
humans or an insignificant one is a question that might not be
answered satisfactorily for a long time".

BillK