The Year of the Neanderthals 2006

150 years ago, the Neanderthal remains were found early. Since early man moved this research. The longer you are researching, the more evident that these principles of European man is now more similar than previously thought. But there are still many unanswered questions about the Neanderthals. For the problem known, was in 2006 proclaimed the year of the Neanderthals. And on 04 May 2006, the exhibition opened in Mettmann "Wire.

Neanderthal!"

The name
The first fossil of the "ice people" Europeans in 1856, so 150 years ago, when Kalkabbau discovered in a quarry. In the mud at the bottom of the Feldhofer cave, a cave in the Neander Valley near Dusseldorf. While the naturalist Carl Fuhlrott then identified the bones as the remains of a primitive people of the ice age, some researchers believe there is no primitive man. So a wild scientific debate arose about the results.

What were the people of the ice age?
Striking were the skull, strong ridges above the eyes, a chin and a sloping forehead, nose, big, strong front teeth, muscles and bones. 150 years ago it was thought that Neanderthals had the monkey has been so man. In a stooped posture, with hairy skin. However, this presumption is now outdated. Early man in Europe was adopted as long as they were closer. People like mono-had died in the days of the Neanderthals of several million years. Today we know that Neanderthals were actually stronger and more muscular than modern humans, but not as steeply as it is long. It was probably tempted in the contemporary urban landscape or even particularly noteworthy.

Neanderthals Skills
Although it seemed to side - the Neanderthals were already at a high level of culture. He lived in shacks made ​​of pelts and bones of mammoth, fire and knew that I live. Clothing made ​​of leather with special tools and had a successful hunting techniques. In general, there has been specialized tool, which adapts and transforms according to the purpose. There was not only against the cold of the ice age, but also the predators can protect and defend.

Adapted to the ice age?
Researchers have assumed until recently that Neanderthals were adapted to small and robust body that cold weather and rough ice very well. A robust body loses less heat, a big nose is used to "warm" air. And the muscles were strong enough to survive in the harsh conditions of the ice age. But maybe the Neanderthals were "isolated", but not enough - because the ice age climate may have been the latest research is a cause of extinction of the Neanderthals. Research has shown that especially strong climate fluctuations may have caused large differences in temperature, the extinction of Ice Age people.

In darkness
Year of the Neanderthals, there was large-scale European projects of research of the Neanderthals in the road ahead. So I wanted to clarify whether the Neanderthals is one of our species Homo sapiens, or whether it is a different species in human evolution, 100 000 years ago saw his girlfriend and about 27 000 years before disappearing again. This leads to a more open question: what grounds the Neanderthals disappeared about? If Homo sapiens displaced Neanderthal? But he was not well adapted to the climate of the ice age? Were perhaps the major climate fluctuations of guilt, nor in food animals mammoth and others, such as Neanderthals, ice age people could not adapt? Or was it a prehistoric people in the group of simple, so do not

survive?
All these questions are being investigated and if you want to know more about it or you are interested in the subject of the Neanderthals, which can be found at the following locations more about: The official website of www.neandertalerundco.de/ lot of information and learn more about the exhibition for the anniversary year. For example, in "hand of Neanderthal"in the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, "Life in the extreme " at the Museum of Archaeology Westfalia Herne and "Roots - Roots of Humanity"in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn.

Closer - Neandertal
From May 04 to September 24, 2006 shows the Neanderthal Museum, this special exhibition. It is the prejudices we have towards the primitive. Or you can see in the term Neanderthal is also not a continuous slope, swinging his legs before primitive man? But both are wrong. Why do we have a picture in front of us and how we imagine the Neanderthals actually be explained in the special exhibition exciting. And finally, every visitor with the latest optical technology to become a prehistoric man. Have fun!

Also recommended:
www.nationalgeographic.de / TNT, the additional pages on the website of National Geographic Germany, explain the current state of research and present the European research project closely.

By the way: If you're wondering
once why Neanderthal and Neanderthal man is still written in 19 century ago, the place where you and the valley continues to h, ie Neanderthal, so that there are two different spellings. The museum in Mettmann is spelled h. According to Duden Neanderthal is usually written, but not h.