Uite aici un subiect asupra căruia ar trebui să se pronunte marele condei ”intimist” Julius Constantinescu:  au făcut sau nu au făcut sex homo sapiens si homo neanderthalensis?

Tinând cont de dezvăluirile făcute de maestrul Ion Cristoiu în anii 90 (găina violată, oaia-porno etc), răspunsul natural e ”da”: homo sapiens e un mare experimentator erotic – si nu văd de ce o neanderthalită ingenuă ar fi fost mai putin tentantă decât o găină, un bec sau un deodorant.

Pe de altă parte, oamenii de stiintă ne dau o informatie-cheie: ”oamenii de Neanderthal au constituit hrană pentru Homo sapiens, iar acest lucru a dus la dispariţia primilor”.

Ei, aici e miza: vă dati seama ce impecabil produs ”2 în 1” au fost neanderthalienii la vremea lor?!

“Setelah 15 tahun menjadi rumor, para peneliti akhirnya mengumumkan bahwa fosil berusia 4,4 juta tahun itu merupakan salah satu leluhur manusia”

Begitu kira-kira kalimat pembuka salah satu artikel di The Wall Street Journal terbitan 2 Oktober. Fosil makhluk ini kemudian dinamai Ardipithecus ramidus (Ardi).

Menurut para peneliti, Ardi merupakan salah satu mata rantai evolusi manusia, hidup mendahului Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), Homo erectus, dan Homo neanderthalensis, yang kemudian menurunkan manusia modern.

Ardi sendiri diduga memiliki nenek moyang yang belum diketahui, diperkirakan hidup 6 juta tahun yang lalu. Si nenek moyang X ini yang kemudian menjadi leluhur bersama antara manusia dan primata. Setelah makhluk X ini keturunannya kemudian bercabang, satu menjadi manusia, satu lagi menjadi primata.

Berita tentang Ardi merupakan berita baru. Namun tema yang melingkupinya sudah jauh hari dipicu oleh Darwin dengan Teori Evolusinya. Mudah disangka, penentang garda depan teori ini adalah pemegang otoritas agama.

Untuk memahami lingkup kejadian ini, ada baiknya kita menoleh sebentar ke belakang, meneropong masa kebangkitan sains di Eropa beberapa abad lalu.

Seiring kebangkitan sains, otoritas agama mendapatkan serangan bertubi-tubi. Pukulan berat pertama datang dari Copernicus dan Galileo. Mereka mengabarkan bahwa bumi bukanlah pusat alam semesta. Bumi hanya salah satu planet yang berputar mengelilingi matahari.

Ini jelas membatalkan anggapan manusia sebagai pusat kosmis. Jika ternyata bumi ini hanya salah satu planet kecil yang mengelilingi matahari, sedangkan matahari ini hanya serupa bintang mini yang mengorbit Bima Sakti, lantas dimana letak posisi istimewa manusia dalam kosmis alam raya?

Kenyataan bahwa manusia bukanlah pusat alam semesta akan membuyarkan kebanggaan manusia sebagai makhluk Tuhan yang paling mulia. Manusia semestinya berada di sentral, bukan sekedar penghuni pinggiran semesta.

Belum reda pukulan “kosmis”, muncul pula seorang pengelana pendiam bernama Darwin. Sepulang berkelana dia mengabarkan berita yang lebih menggemparkan bahwa makhluk hidup tunduk dalam proses evolusi. Bentuk yang diperoleh sekarang bukanlah bentuk yang tetap, melainkan setelah melalui perubahan bertahap.

Kabar ini jelas bertentangan dengan yang tertulis di kitab suci. Manusia adalah keturunan Adam dan Hawa yang diturunkan dari surga. Tuhan juga telah memberikan rupa Adam dan Hawa dalam bentuk yang sempurna. Tidak tertulis sepotongpun kata evolusi dalam kitab suci.

“Sabda” Darwin semakin menenggelamkan manusia pada krisis identitas, semakin terlukalah harga dirinya. Setelah manusia kehilangan posisi sentralnya di alam raya, sekarang seseorang hendak mengatakan bahwa manusia bukanlah makhluk surgawi. Manusia tak berbeda dengan spesies lain yang berkembang melalui proses evolusi. Bahwa leluhur manusia bisa jadi tak lebih dari seekor makhluk berbulu.

Begitulah, pertempuran mengenai asal muasal manusia nampaknya masih akan berlangsung lama, semenjak sains sendiri belum bisa menawarkan posisi yang pasti dan ‘decisive’ perihal ini.[]

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Un congresso internazionale di archeologia a Riva del Garda svela nuovi segreti sull’Uomo di Neanderthal

È possibile che uno degli ultimi luoghi colonizzati dai Neanderthal in Europa si trovi in provincia di Verona. Secondo i ricercatori che hanno partecipato al progetto “Fossili umani veronesi” infatti Il Riparo di Mezzena, nei monti Lessini sopra la città di Avesa, è forse il luogo che ha visto questa specie estinguersi in favore degli Homo sapiens, giunti qui successivamente.
“Niente di cruento,” afferma Laura Longo, responsabile del progetto. “I dati estrapolati dagli studi in corso sui fossili umani in quest’area sembrano condurre coerentemente verso l’ipotesi – in discussione – che tra i 36.000 e  i 33.000 anni fa sui Monti Lessini si sia consumata la fine dei neandertaliani.”

Durante il periodo interpleniglaciale Wurmiano alcune colonie di Homo neanderthalensis si sono rifugiate nell’area a ridosso della città di Verona  attratti dalla disponibilità di grotte e ripari e dall’abbondanza di selce e selvaggina. Lo stesso tipo di attrattive hanno però spinto anche i sapiens nella stessa zona. La competizione fra le due specie avrebbe finito per sfavorire i neanderthal. Questi dati sono stati presentati in questi giorni al simposio intitolato “Updating the reasoning on the middle to upper palaeolithic biological and cultural shift in Eurasia” tenutosi a Riva del Garda fra il 15 e il 20 settembre con la partecipazione di 700 ricercatori internazionali facenti capo all’European Association of Archaeologists.

Durante la conferenza oltre ai risultati degli studi di Longo sono state presentate tutte le altre novità nel campo della ricerca sull’uomo di Neanderthal. Per esempio grazie ai dati sul DNA sembra ormai assodato che la nostra specie e quella dei Neanderthal non siano imparentate e che le ipotesi di ibridazione fra le due specie non siano plausibili. Secondo i dati esposti a Riva del Garda inoltre i neanderthal sarebbero sopravvissuti molto più a lungo di quanto si credeva in precedenza. I risultati delle analisi sugli ispotopi presenti nei fossili – importanti per comprendere la dieta di questi uomini del passato -, confrontate con i dati anatomici – la mandibola della femmina ritrovata nel sito veronese presenta notevoli deformazioni – dimostrano anche che questi ominidi nell’ultimo periodo della loro permanenza in questa zona hanno vissuto in condizioni estremamente difficili.

SCIENZA: FOSSILE DEL MARE DEL NORD APPARTENEVA A UOMO NEANDERTHAL

(ASCA) – Roma, 15 giu – Un frammento di osso recuperato nelle acque del mare del Nord apparteneva ad un uomo di Neanderthal. Secondo quanto rende noto il sito web della Bbc, il primo ritrovamento del genere, e’ stato confermato dall’analisi degli isotopi del fossile, che risale a 60 mila anni fa ed e’ appartenuto ad un uomo la cui alimentazione era carnivora, caratteristiche specifiche dell’uomo di Neanderthal.

Il Mare del Nord e’ una delle aree piu’ ricche del pianeta per ritrovamenti di fossili di mammiferi, dovuto al fatto che nelle ere passate i livelli dell’acqua erano sostanzialmente piu’ bassi di quelli odierni con vaste zone di terraferma.

Qui sono stati ritrovati molti reperti di animali dell’era glaciale, come cavalli, renne, rinoceronti e mammuth.

Il frammento di osso frontale scoperto a Leiden, nei Paesi Bassi, e’ il primo conosciuto reperto umano ”arcaico” recuperato dalle acque del mare in tutto il mondo. Fu ritrovato fra resti di altri animali e manufatti di pietra a 15 chilometri al largo delle coste olandesi nel 2001. Gli studi sui reperti sono stati condotti dal professor Jean-Jacques Hublin, del Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology di Leipzig, in Germania. ”Anche avendo un piccolo frammento di disposizione, possiamo ora sicuramente confermare la sua appartenenza ad un uomo di Neanderthal”, ha detto Hublin alla Bbc.

L’uomo di Neanderthal e’ vissuto nel periodo detto paleolitico, fra 130 mila e 25-30 mila anni fa in Europa, Africa e Asia

fonte: asca.it

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Sea gives up Neanderthal fossil

By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News The fragment of skull belonged to a young adult male Part of a Neanderthal man’s skull has been dredged up from the North Sea, in the first confirmed find of its kind. Scientists in Leiden, in the Netherlands, have unveiled the specimen – a fragment from the front of a skull belonging to a young adult male. Analysis of chemical “isotopes” in the 60,000-year-old fossil suggest a carnivorous diet, matching results from other Neanderthal specimens. The North Sea is one of the world’s richest areas for mammal fossils. But the remains of ancient humans are scarce; this is the first known specimen to have been recovered from the sea bed anywhere in the world. For most of the last half million years, sea levels were substantially lower than they are today. Significant areas of the North Sea were, at times, dry land. Criss-crossed by river systems, with wide valleys, lakes and floodplains, these were rich habitats for large herds of ice age mammals such as horse, reindeer, woolly rhino and mammoth. Even with this rather limited fragment of skull, it is possible to securely identify this as Neanderthal Jean-Jacques Hublin, Max Planck Institute Their fossilised remains are brought ashore in large numbers each year by fishing trawlers and other dredging operations. According to Professor Chris Stringer, from London’s Natural History Museum, some fishermen now concentrate on collecting fossils rather than their traditional catch. “There were mammoth fossils collected off the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts 150 years ago, so we’ve known for some time there was material down there that was of this age, or even older,” Professor Stringer, a museum research leader, told BBC News. Indeed, some of the fossil material from the North Sea dates to the Cromerian stage, between 866,000 and 478,000 years ago. It had been “only a matter of time”, he said, before a human fossil came to light. Professor Stringer added: “The key thing for the future is getting this material in a better context. “It would be great if we could get the technology one day to go down and search (in the sea floor) where we can obtain the dating, associated materials and other information we would get if we were excavating on land.” Private collection Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were our close evolutionary cousins; they appear in the fossil record some 400,000 years ago. These resourceful, physically powerful hunter-gatherers dominated a wide range spanning Britain and Iberia in the west, Israel in the south and Siberia in the east. Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa, and replaced the Neanderthals after entering Europe about 40,000 years ago. The specimen was found among animal remains and stone artefacts dredged up 15km off the coast of the Netherlands in 2001. Neanderthals were our close evolutionary cousins The fragment was spotted by Luc Anthonis, a private fossil collector from Belgium, in the sieving debris of a shell-dredging operation. Study of the specimen has been led by Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “Even with this rather limited fragment of skull, it is possible to securely identify this as Neanderthal,” Professor Hublin told BBC News. For instance, the thick bony ridge above the eyes – known as a supraorbital torus – is typical of the species, he said. The fragment’s shape best matches the frontal bones of late Pleistocene examples of this human species, particularly the specimens known as La Chapelle-aux-Saints and La Ferrassie 1. These examples, which were both unearthed in France, date from between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. The North Sea fossil also bears a lesion caused by a benign tumour – an epidermoid cyst – of a type very rare in humans today. The research links up with the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain 2 (AHOB 2) project, which aims to set Britain’s prehistory in a European context. Dutch archaeologist Wil Roebroeks, a collaborator on this study, is a member of the AHOB 2 research team. Extreme ways Dr Mike Richards, from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, analysed different forms, or isotopes, of the elements nitrogen and carbon in the fossilised bone. This shed light on the types of foods eaten by this young male. The results show he was an extreme carnivore, surviving on a diet consisting largely of meat. “High in the food chain, they must have been quite rare on the ground compared to other mammals, which explains their rarity to some degree,” said Wil Roebroeks from the University of Leiden. The results of the stable isotope analysis fit with what is known about other examples of this species, though other research suggests that in Gibraltar, on the southern coast of Iberia, some Neanderthals were exploiting marine resources, including dolphins, monk seals and mussels. Researchers decided against carbon dating the specimen; this requires the preservation of a protein called collagen. A CT scan shows the find super-imposed on another Neanderthal skull Professor Hublin explained that while there was some collagen left in the bone, scientists would have needed to destroy approximately half of the fossil in order to obtain enough for dating. Professor Roebroeks told BBC News: “Dutch scientists – geologists and archaeologists alike – are hoping this find will convince governmental agencies that the Netherlands needs to invest much more in that… archive of Pleistocene sediments off our coast – and off the coast of Britain.” He said this submerged repository contained “high resolution information on past climate change and its environmental consequences, points of reference for how rivers ‘worked’ before any human interference and now, as this find shows, remains of people who once roamed these landscapes.” Professor Hublin said the individual was living at the extreme edge of the Neanderthals’ northern range, where the relatively cold environment would have challenged their capabilities to the limit. Neanderthal remains have been found at only two sites this far north. “What we have here is a marginal population, probably with low numbers of people,” Professor Hublin explained. “It’s quite fascinating to see that these people were able to cope with the environment and be so successful in an ecological niche which was not the initial niche for humans.” While these hunting grounds would at times have provided plentiful sources of meat for a top carnivore, Neanderthals living in these areas would also have been at the mercy of fluctuations in the numbers of big game animals. Periodic dips in populations of mammals such as reindeer could have caused local extinctions of Neanderthal groups which hunted them, Dr Hublin explained. Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8099377.stmf

It is almost 85 years ago since H. L. Mencken wrote Homo Neanderthalensis. Mencken wrote, “They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.” It is sad that this amusing essay is as relevant today as it was back in 1925 during the Scopes Trial. Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was almost 70 years old at the time of the Scopes Monkey trial. Scientific progress faces the same level of ignorance and opposition as it did back in the days of the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial in Dayton, Tennessee. It is now 150 years ago since the publication of On the Origin of Species yet we still face the same drivel today as back then. This is clearly evident in the article, “Where Evolution Has Gaps, Creation Might Offer Answers—If We Will Listen” published in the opinion section of US News and World Report.

The author of the article, Henry Morris III, CEO of the Institute for Creation Research in Dallas explains that, “Embarrassingly, this “theory” cannot be scientifically observed in action today, nor can it be forensically observed in nature’s record of the past.” It is very clear that Henry Morris III does not understand the theory of evolution. He is obviously ignorant of the very “theory” that he opposes when he describes evolution as “Everything happened quite by accident.” Any evolutionary biologist, physical anthropologist, microbiologist, geneticists or paleontologist will explain that evolution is not random. It is genetic mutation that is random. Genetic mutations lead to variation. Organisms inheriting variations best suited to an environment have a higher probability of surviving long enough to reproduce and pass their genes on to the next generation. The fossil record is evidence of the fact that organisms take a great deal longer than 10,000 years to evolve and confirms common ancestry among different species.

Evolution is a continuing process. Microbiologists see this all the time with new strains of bacteria and viruses. MRSA is a perfect example of evolution at work. We can go on and on with examples, but there is no point in trying to reason with the unreasonable. As H.L Mencken said, “The inferior man’s reasons for hating knowledge are not hard to discern. He hates it because it is complex-because it puts an unbearable burden upon his meager capacity for taking in ideas.” Evolution is not an opinion or belief. Evolution is a fact supported by evidence and continues to be supported with new scientific discoveries. We have relatively new sciences like the discovery of DNA and Microbiology that continually supply evidence that support the evolutionary process.

Despite scientific progress and more sophisticated technology, a study by the Pew Research Institute shows that almost 50% of Americans believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible. To this day, court rooms across the country still witness battles between school boards and science advocates about whether or not creationism has a place alongside evolution in a science classroom. H.L. Mencken wrote in Homo Neanderthalensis, “The hypothesis of evolution” is credited by all men of education; they themselves can’t understand it. Ergo, its teaching must be put down.” Thankfully, reason does have its day and rulings tend to be in favor of science advocates. That is good news. However, the power base is still very much with religion.

Ya lo hemos terminado en clase y podemos publicarlo.
Aquí os dejo el enlace para que veáis vuestra obra:

CUADRO SOBRE EL PROCESO DE HOMINIZACIÓN

Negli anni Cinquanta un gruppo di ricercatori della Columbia University scoprì in una grotta sui monti Zagros alcuni scheletri di uomini vissuti suppergiù quarantacinquemila anni fa. Uno dei ritrovamenti attirò subito l’attenzione e fu oggetto di studi specifici: si tratta di un maschio deceduto all’età di circa quarantacinque anni, un’età considerevole, a quanto si sa delle aspettative di vita dell’epoca.
Il quadro clinico che è stato possibile ricostruire dallo studio delle ossa è sconfortante: l’uomo era probabilmente zoppo, soffriva di artrite, il suo braccio destro, atrofizzato dalla nascita, era stato amputato, l’intera parte sinistra del volto era sfigurata per un grave trauma infantile, che aveva fratturato l’orbita e lo aveva quasi certamente reso cieco di un occhio, la parte destra del cranio mostra segni di deformazione, forse intenzionale, forse un incidente.

Il cranio e lo scheletro furono trovati in piccoli frammenti. L’uomo, “battezzato” Shanidar I, era morto schiacciato dal crollo improvviso della volta della caverna.

Il calco del cranio Shanidar I, ricostruito parzialmente, mostra il trauma cicatrizzato dell’occhio sinistro e evidenza di fratture nella parte sinistra del cranio.

L’uomo aveva vissuto gran parte della sua lunga vita con gravi menomazioni. Non poteva cacciare, non poteva combattere. Come fu possibile per lui rimanere in vita così a lungo? Gli incisivi sono consumati da un lato, è probabile che usasse la bocca per afferrare gli oggetti. L’evidenza suggerisce tuttavia che l’individuo poté sopravvivere grazie all’aiuto di un gruppo, forse fu curato, nella sua società occupò un ruolo che non richiedeva piena integrità fisica. Che cosa hanno visto i ricercatori con questo ritrovamento? È quella la prima evidenza finora scoperta di umana pietà? Di apprezzamento dell’utilità sociale di vecchi e storpi? Accanto ai poveri resti c’erano segni di fuoco. Un guardiano della fiamma? Uno sciamano? Un casalingo nel Paleolitico? Le ossa raccontano spesso una storia.

Questo istinto di coesione sociale, di reciproco aiuto che torna a utilità collettiva (o viceversa), se di inclinazione naturale si tratta, formerebbe quindi un tessuto elementare di solidarietà da sempre sotteso alla specie umana, come si dice. Sarà pur così. Le discussioni sull’argomento sono interminabili e prevedibili. Che sia significativo il fatto che le ossa di quell’uomo deforme, sepolte tra pietre per millenni, oggi non ci sono più? Sono scomparse, forse trafugate o distrutte, annichilate in qualche rogo a pochi anni dalla loro scoperta. Solo calchi, fotografie e disegni rimangono. Più che dare informazioni su società e patologie umane nel Pleistocene superiore, i ritrovamenti perduti hanno la forza di evidenze storiche inequivocabili sui tempi all’inizio del terzo millennio C.E.

Per approfondire:

Ralph S. Solecki, Shanidar: The First Flower People, New York, 1971. (ci vuole un bel coraggio a titolare così un libro di paleoantropologia nel 1971!)
T. D. Stewart, “The Neanderthal Skeletal Remains from Shanidar Cave, Iraq: A Summary of Findings to Date”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 121, No. 2 (Apr. 29, 1977): 121-165.
Ralph S. Solecki, “Contemporary Kurdish Winter-Time Inhabitants of Shanidar Cave, Iraq”, World Archaeology 10, No. 3, Caves (Feb., 1979): 318-330.
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, What the Bones Tell Us, New York 1993.

Le ossa di Shanidar sono entrate nella popular culture ad opera di una scrittrice di libri per ragazzi, con grande successo di vendite.

Jean Marie Auel, Ayla figlia della terra, Longanesi 1988.
id., Focolari di pietra, Longanesi 2002.

I dagens nätupplaga av Dagens Nyheter står att läsa om att man hittat hår från ett folkslag av Homo Sapiens Sapiens, dvs människa, som tidigare bebott Grönland men nu inte finns längre utan ersatts av dagens eskimåer. I Svenska Dagbladet kan vi också läsa om en nyfunnen indianstam vars eventuella utplåning oroar forskarna.

Det är med viss sorg som jag läser den här typen av historiska fynd eller urfolk som möter “civilisationen” av ungefär samma anledning som jag tycker det är tråkigt att vissa djurarter försvinner.  Det var tretusen år sedan detta, numera utrotade folkslag, försvann. Tretusen år kan tyckas som en lång tid men i ett evolutionärt perspektiv är det knappt en sekund. Nu har visserligen folkslag kommit och gått genom årtusendena kan någon anföra och det är en del av en naturlig utveckling att vissa folkslag försvinner genom att de konkurreras ut av andra. Antingen har de manövrerats ut av andra folkslag eller blandats. Europa är ett typiskt exempel på en historisk smältdegel av olika folkslag genom årtusendena vilket i sin tur skapat de europeiska folkslag vi ser idag. Jag är visserligen dåligt påläst på detta ämne men ett antal folkslag har försvunnit i människans historia. Det är en knäckfråga hur olika länder förhåller sig till sin egen historia i ämnet. Det kan i vissa kulturer anses känsligt att man faktiskt inte var först på sitt territorium utan att man konkurrerande – slog ut – ett annat folkslag. Det är viktigt med en korrekt historiebeskrivning som inte förskönar eller förvanskar. Jag kan dra en parallell till min egen skolgång där neandertalarna utmålades som slöa, dumma och att de mer eller mindre försvann självmant. Kanske är det så att vi förnekar vårt eget våldsamma förflutna?

Inom ett antal hundra år så kommer det folk som vi idag kallar svenskar att vara blandade med folkslag från världens alla hörn. Huruvida det är något att förundras eller förfäras över överlåter jag till läsaren att bedöma - precis som den kände kolumnisten Ulf Nilson skrev i Expressen om detta ämne: “Slutsatsen att vi är på väg att byta folk på Sverige är läsaren fri att hålla med om eller förkasta.” 

Frågan är om någon saknar ett försvunnet folkslag. Jag vet inte, jag tror att det i naturen är det viktigt med mångfald.

Neandertalare

Ett intressant exempel, som dock inte handlar om folkslag utan om människorarter var Homo Neanderthalensis, i dagligt tal kallat neandertalarna, existens. Låt mig för ett ögonblick sväva iväg i ämnet då jag faktiskt tycker att denna människoart (ej att förväxla med folkslag) är en fantastisk del av människans historia. Neandertalarna hade större hjärnor än dagens människor, var kraftigare byggda, hade god talförmåga och en religiös föreställningsvärld vilket bland annat innebar att de begravde sina döda. Neandertalarna levde sida vid sida med människan i flera tusen år men konkurrerades (läs slogs ihjäl) till slut av människorna som började göra sitt intåg i Europa. Man vet inte varför neandertalarna förlorade striden, de båda arterna var ju väldigt lika. En del forskare anför en intelligensskillnad (som saknar belägg i forskningen), andra forskare menar att Homo Sapiens var mer krigisk. Många tänker på neanderthalaren som en korkad storvuxen hårig best. Forskningen visar dock att neanderthalarna snarast verkade mer fredliga och leva mer i harmoni med naturen än Homo Sapiens. Läs gärna mer om Homo Neanderthalensis då jag antagligen skulle kunna skriva hur mycket som helst kring denna fascinerande människoart!

First, let us study Neanderthal technology. Neanderthals had soft Mousterian hammers which they used to make stone-flakes, hand axes, and spears (for thrusting, likely not projectile spears). Materials they used included wood, bones, antlers, and eventually some stone by the end of their timeline. It has been suggested that they only inherited much of their more advanced technology and thus in comparison to their human neighbors, they were less sophisticated. Technology was a part of why humans were able to drive their cousins to extinction, so without pressure they could have developed similar technology but at a slightly slower pace. I doubt they would reach our modern technology by this time and perhaps they might have never reached it (as the Native Americans and Australian Aborigines never developed as advanced technology as groups of the same species in other places of the earth).

Next up: Would the Neanderthals have domesticated wildlife and developed means to cultivate species of plants? I think in certain areas there is a possibility that they might go through the same steps as we did to reach civilization. Perhaps in some Middle Eastern river valley, a population of Neanderthals might use the seasonal floods of the region to develop agriculture and eventually an advanced civilization as did the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Chinese. What they domesticate is purely speculative. Some of our domesticated and semi-domesticated animals are former prey or predators of our ancestors. Possibly, these Neanderthals might domesticate the mammoths and deer they once drove to death. They may even develop religious beliefs or deities based on the behemoths.

With civilization comes culture, so if Neanderthals create civilization then they will likely have an advanced culture. I can’t say if they will have art, music, and literature just as we do because there is no evidence of them ever exhibiting anything related to the three. Cave art is purely limited to the Cro-Magnons, so the possibilities for them having art and, at some point, a written language, is quite hard to predict. First they would have to have an oral language and drawn pictures. Then they would start associating the spoken word with the drawn picture and the picture would evolve into a symbol and so on. I think that with a civilization and culture, they would eventually have a system of hieroglyphics. (see Neanderthal language for more info)
Neanderthal religions? As far as a Neanderthal religion(s), I think there is evidence for the start of such a step to higher society. Neanderthal burial sites show some signs of care for the dead as well as grave goods suggesting more advanced and even religious burial could have come in the future (maybe not to the extent of entire Pyramids). A Neanderthal religion, I believe, would either develop into a spiritual one (the earth and animals both play important roles as in the Native American and Shinto religions) or one more similar to the Egyptians or Hindus (in which animals play key roles and are even worshiped to some extent). They would also have some form of afterlife if they give burial goods to the dead. Deities would likely relate to natural themes such as specific animals who represents certain things to the Neanderthal people (such as fertility, agriculture, death, life, war, etc.).

Now, all these developments are not expected to be made by the Neanderthals themselves (Homo neanderthalensis) but perhaps by some descendant of the species that is slimmer, more agile, and more intelligent and human-like but not exactly us.