Science Forums 2

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by LogicTech

... And this notion that they didn't is strongly supported by archaeological evidence, in the types of tools they built, their behaviors, etc. Neanderthals didn't produce any art, nor did they display any noticeable technological progress (i.e. they never made any watercraft, unlike modern humans). In fact, the only time they did start displaying any of these behaviors was when the Cro-Magnons came along. ...

No art? Really?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Neanderthal 'face' found in Loire

Originally Posted by Jonathan Amos

Clive Gamble, an expert from Southampton University on the early occupation of Europe by human species, says science has been reluctant to see Neanderthals as great conceptual thinkers.

"The great problem with all the Neanderthal art is that they are one-offs. What is different about the art of modern humans when it appears 35,000 years ago is that there is repetition - animal sculptures and paintings done over and over again in a recognisable style.

"With Neanderthals, there may have been the odd da Vinci-like genius, but their talents died with them."

Bahn, on the other hand, believes the Roche-Cotard mask should set the record straight on Neanderthals' artistic capabilities.

"There are now a great many Neanderthal art objects. They have been found for decades and always they are dismissed as the exception that proves the rule. ...

More recently: Neanderthal body art hints at ancient language - life - 29 March 2008 - New Scientist

COULD Neanderthals speak? The answer may depend on whether they painted their bodies.

Archaeologist Francesco d'Errico of the University of Bordeaux, France, and colleagues recently recovered hundreds of blocks of black manganese pigment from two Neanderthal sites in France. These come on top of 39 other sites that have yielded evidence of pigment use.

D'Errico says that Neanderthals, who most likely had pale skin, must have used these pigments to mark their skin, as well as animal skins. The pigments had also been fashioned into "crayons" to draw straight lines and maybe abstract designs. Since body art is a form of communication - it represents something - the techniques for making symbols, and their meanings, would have had to be transmitted through language, says d'Errico, who spoke last week at the Language and Evolution Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Laymen are as laymen do.