Heart of the Bison - The Neandertals
“Heart of the Bison” is a novel about Neandertals. What is a Neandertal? The evolutionary trail of mankind leads back to Africa. As the lush jungle of East Africa dried out over 4 million years ago, the primates in the jungle had to evolve or go extinct. They stood on their hind legs and progressed through many stages of evolution such as Australopithecines, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus. About 200,000 years ago a group of the African Homo erectus that had moved to Europe evolved into the first Homo sapiens. These were Homo sapiens neanderthalensis—the Neandertals.
From the size of the Neandertal skull we can tell their brains were a little bit bigger than those of modern men. Based on that, we would expect them to be as smart as modern man. Over a period of about 150,000 years, modern men have moved from stone tools to the world we see today, but Neandertals lived in Europe and the Middle East for a similar period of time and their stone tools show little progression. In fact, in nearly every measurable way, Neandertals were slow-witted and backward.
How can this difference be explained, given the size of Neandertal brains? The answer lies in examining the part of the brain that expanded. We know that creativity and problem solving functions of the brain lie in the frontal lobes. The back of the brain deals to some extent in functions like instinct and inherited knowledge. The skulls of the Cro-Magnons (Homo sapiens sapiens - us) have very high foreheads to house greatly expanded frontal lobes. Neandertals, however, have a large bun at the back of their heads and significantly lower foreheads. Cro-Magnons have massively expanded powers of creativity compared to any other living thing on the Earth. Would it not be expected that Neandertals would have massively expanded powers related to instinct and inherited knowledge compared to any other living thing?
This is true in the Neandertal culture I created for “Heart of the Bison.” Their language and tool making abilities are inherited rather than learned. In addition, their physical powers such as sight, smell, and hearing are significantly advanced.
From the size of the Neandertal skull we can tell their brains were a little bit bigger than those of modern men. Based on that, we would expect them to be as smart as modern man. Over a period of about 150,000 years, modern men have moved from stone tools to the world we see today, but Neandertals lived in Europe and the Middle East for a similar period of time and their stone tools show little progression. In fact, in nearly every measurable way, Neandertals were slow-witted and backward.
How can this difference be explained, given the size of Neandertal brains? The answer lies in examining the part of the brain that expanded. We know that creativity and problem solving functions of the brain lie in the frontal lobes. The back of the brain deals to some extent in functions like instinct and inherited knowledge. The skulls of the Cro-Magnons (Homo sapiens sapiens - us) have very high foreheads to house greatly expanded frontal lobes. Neandertals, however, have a large bun at the back of their heads and significantly lower foreheads. Cro-Magnons have massively expanded powers of creativity compared to any other living thing on the Earth. Would it not be expected that Neandertals would have massively expanded powers related to instinct and inherited knowledge compared to any other living thing?
This is true in the Neandertal culture I created for “Heart of the Bison.” Their language and tool making abilities are inherited rather than learned. In addition, their physical powers such as sight, smell, and hearing are significantly advanced.
No comments have been added yet.
