Stardate 20010915.2243 (On Screen): It is remarkable what you can deduce from indirect information. In the case of anthropology, it's sometimes possible to actually get inside the minds of individuals from the distant past. For instance, sometimes footprints are preserved, and there are in Africa a set of footprints from three hominids who walked across a fresh patch of volcanic ash. There are three sets: a big one, a middle sized one and a small one. The big one and middle sized one are parallel to each other. The small one is remarkable, because each small footprint is inside one of the big footprints, and on top of it. The image of a man and a woman walking next to each other, followed by a kid stepping in Daddy's foot prints is nearly inescapable -- it's a very human scene. It's also a very old one, because the footprints date back about 4 million years. And yet that kid's actions already seem very modern; it's almost like a modern kid who likes to try to wear Daddy's shoes which are much too big.
Remains left by the Neandertals indicate much more than that, though. They are quite modern as hominids go, and were tool users and intrepid hunters. It isn't known how or why it was that they got displaced by an invasion of Cro Magnons (modern humans) out of Africa a hundred thousand years ago; that remains an unsolved problem. There are various guesses but no real evidence yet. Still, the evidence is strong that they felt considerable affection for each other. Neandertal graves often contain gifts of tools and flowers and foodstuffs, showing deliberate burials and even indicating some sort of ceremony. But analysis of the skeletons reveals more. This article describes a jawbone which was broken; the person it belonged to lived for at least six months without being able to chew -- and didn't starve. What did he (?) eat? Someone was feeding him. Why? Because they cared. But there was an even more remarkable case. A skeleton was found of a Neandertal who died as a teenager. He was horribly deformed and would never have been able to care for himself, and yet he lived nearly to adulthood. That couldn't have happened by accident.
Lions don't do that. While the members of a pride cooperate and work together, if a lion is injured none of the other lions will attempt to help it; if it cannot recover it will die. If a lion cub is hurt, the tribe will abandon it. But Neandertals did; they cared for a baby which would never be able to contribute to the tribe; cared for him until apparently he died of natural causes. And his grave had flowers and offerings in it. That is a very human thing to do; it means the Neandertals were very much like us culturally, despite their physical differences. (discussion in progress)
