How can you learn about people who lived before written history?

Neanderthals

Let us travel back in time few hundred thousand years ago to meet our ancestors, Neanderthals, who were the most recent archaic humans who inhabited Eurasia from around 350.000 years ago and gradually had disappeared by 25.000 years ago. Similar human population lived at the same time in Africa and eastern Asia, but the best research was done on Neanderthals because their bones and artifacts stayed well preserved due to the many limestone caves all around Europe and Asia. 40.000 years ago, climate started to change, Cro-Magnons, more modern humans came in Europe (from Africa), started to interbred with Neanderthals, so after more then 10.000 years original Neanderthals gradually disappear.

Neanderthals were one of the most successful humans - they survived over of quarter of million years by adapting to the extremely cold climate of the Ice age with their short muscled bodies and strong skeletons.

When were first time bones of Neanderthals found (in 19th century,in cave in Germany (Neander Valley)) scientists believed that our ancestors were subhuman and that they were separate species from us. Due to the lack of knowledge, it was believed that they were completely wild, aggressive, cannibals, almost without human characteristics. In 1960 this theory was finally changed, and neanderthals are recognized as Homo sapienceneardelthalensis and accepted in family of human beings. Now is known, that we can be very proud of our ancestors:

• their societies were very well organized, altough they lived in relatively small groups, groups were also communicating among themselves,

• they cared about ill, disabled and old people.
• Their speech was not the same as in modern humans, but their level of communications was high,(they could not pronounce wovels so easily)
• they were spiritual people, believing in life-after-life and performing sacred rituals,
• they were burying their deaths,
• they were very musical, singing and using simple instruments
• they created art.

Now is known that Neandertals also created art: altough their strong hands and fingers was not able to create such sophisticated artwork as Cro-magnons could. Recently it was found many artifacts which show that our ancestors had imagination and developed articians abilities. The most recent archeologic findings amd recent reconstrucions of their faces definetely are changing all our prejudices about "cavemen".

It is known that life was short at that time,due to the difficult life conditions, the longest was cca 50 years. Neanderthals used stone-tools and fires and lived mostly in caves. Caves were also their sanctuaries. They performed rituals for success in hunting, fertility, healing, for newborns and funerals.

Their physical look was very far from ape-like creatures like we used to imagine them. Actually, they did not differ much from modern people, as you can see from the pictures where is shown how did they really look like;