The Rise of Homo sapiens
The Evolution of Modern Thinking
Chapter One
Introduction
Sometime about 25,000 years ago the last true Neandertal died, and with
him or her a way of life that had successfully coped with the European
world for over 200,000 years. True, the climate was changing, slowly deteriorating
into full glacial conditions so that by 20,000 years ago Europe
was colder than it had been in over 100,000 years. And the animals were
changing; woolly rhinoceros and mammoth were fewer and harder to find.
But Neandertals had adapted to environmental changes before, including
a long, harsh glacial period between 180,000 and 130,000 years ago. They
were tough, and well adapted to the vagaries of their European habitat.
Something else had changed. A new and different kind of people had moved
into Europe, beginning about 40,000 years ago. From our Neandertal's
perspective they would have appeared odd - tall and skinny with childlike,
bulbous heads, small noses, and ridiculous pointy chins. They
were comparatively weak c ... read full excerpt from The Rise of Homo sapiens: The Evolution of Modern Thinking ebook
