Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Among the ongoing battles in anthropology and paleontology since the mid-Nineteenth Century to now, is the distinction between the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon Man. Specifically this devolves down to what happened to the Neanderthals, since the fossil record appears to show their extinction about 20,000 years ago. My assumption is that most readers are familiar with a lot of this material. It is easily attainable through Google or Wiki. What I find most interesting in this ongoing debate is the impact that Social Darwinism might have played in the original depiction of Neanderthals and in the assumptions made by some scientists about this species.
“Social Darwinism is a term used for various late nineteenth century ideologies predicated on the idea of survival of the fittest.[1] It especially refers to notions of struggle for existence being used to justify social policies which make no distinction between those able to support themselves and those unable to support themselves. The most prominent form of such views stressed competition between individuals in laissez-faire capitalism but it is also connected to the ideas of eugenics, scientific racism, imperialism,[2], Fascism, Nazism and struggle between national or racial groups.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Darwinism
The first skull of the Neanderthal had been discovered in 1926, but it was the discovery in 1856, in the Neanderthal Valley, in Germany that gave the species a name. We all know that the publication of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” in 1859 set off a firestorm of both intellectual excitement and angry social resistance. By the end of the Nineteenth Century scientists, sociologists, physicians, philosophers, and politicians had misused Darwin’s phrase “survival of the fittest” to justify a host of theories that boiled down to two intertwined propositions. The first was that White People represented the apogee of human civilization and the second that among white people the Anglo-Saxon Teutonic strain represented the elite. This justified Eugenics, Imperialism and even the attempted genocide of the Native Americans. In politics, it also represented a definite anti-democratic strain, articulated prominently by Theodore Roosevelt, who believed that those of Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic origin should rule the Nation since the “rabble” was incapable of civilized behavior without their strong leadership.
These theories dominated most intellectual thought from the 1870’s through the 1940’s and was adapted accordingly to each new political situation that arose. “Marcellin Boule (1 January 1861 — 4 July 1942) was a French palaeontologist. He studied and published the first analysis of a complete Homo neanderthalensis. The fossil discovered in La Chapelle-aux-Saints was an old man, and Boule characterized it as brutish, bent kneed and not a fully erect biped [1]. In an illustration he commissioned, the Neanderthal was characterized as a hairy gorilla-like figure with opposable toes, according to a skeleton which was already distorted with arthritis. As a result, Neanderthals were viewed as highly primitive creatures in subsequent decades.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcellin_Boule
Even before Boule, the discovery of Neanderthal and subsequently Cro-Magnon skeletal remains had become intermixed with racial theories. This was because the skeletal remains of Cro-Magnons were considered to be anatomically those of modern man, while Neanderthals were heavier boned with sloping skulls. Historically, there seems to be no typically Neanderthal remains discovered for perhaps the last 20,000 to 30,000 years. It wasn’t implausible to believe they had become extinct and further that they had lost a battle of survival with the Cro-Magnons, due to the superiority of the Cro-Magnon (modern human) strain. These discoveries were so exciting to the populace in general that it led to many popular depictions of both species. The Neanderthals were depicted as darker skinned, with ape-like bodies and faces. The depictions were strikingly similar to the caricatures of Africans also popular then.
It is little wonder to me that the theories of Neanderthal extinction dovetailed completely into the Social Darwinist concept of survival of the fittest, among what they wrongly characterized as “races” and conflated with ethnicity. With Social Darwinist undertones, it became the dominant theory among anthropologists and paleontologists that the Neanderthal was more primitive socially, technologically and intellectually. This led to their extinction, whether by direct violence or an inability to compete for the necessities of life. Anthropology, Archaeology and Paleontology have always been of great interest to me intellectually. In my readings, one of the most striking things I’ve noticed is the reticence of these sciences to explore or accept new ideas that go against the group’s common wisdom. There is a stultification of ideas in these sciences as the current “stars” of their firmament feel threatened by new ideas that challenge careers spent advocating particular beliefs. Just as Schliemann’s theory that Troy was real was ridiculed by the then Archaeological Establishment, only to be proven correct, so was any suggestion that the Neanderthal may have interbred with the Cro-Magnon’s and modern humans may represent the hybrids of this interbreeding.
Yesterday a story reported on MSNBC brought this to mind, although I was familiar with the ongoing argument.
There is genetic evidence now that Neanderthals did interbreed with Cro-Magnons coming intoEuropefromAfrica. While this by no means fully settles the question of the fate of the Neanderthals, it does lend credence to the work of Erik Trinkaus, who has led the derided minority faction that believed there was interbreeding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Trinkaus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_admixture_theory
We have been brought up to believe that science is a pure search for the truth, backed by solid theories, proven by experimentation. This isn’t always the case. Scientists are human beings first, with all the frailties that connotes. Jealousy, egotism, greed, and other less than scientific behavior are as rife within the scientific community as with any other profession. Prejudice, in my opinion has played a significant role in the “Social Sciences” since their inception. In this instance I use, I do believe that the popularity of an underlying Social Darwinist perspective had a strong influence for many years as to how we viewed the Neanderthal.
There is rarely, if ever, perfect proof of any social science theory, that is to be left to what we call the “Hard Sciences”. Consider for instance the belief as to when the Neanderthal’s became extinct, if indeed they have. This is because we haven’t found any Neanderthal skeletal remains after about 20,000 BCE. The world though is a large place. We also know that around 8,000 to 10,000 BCE much land became flooded. Perhaps the “extinction” date exists only because we have not yet found subsequent evidence. When “social scientists” base their careers on only one system of belief, perhaps informed by their own prejudice, they pervert what we know as the Scientific Method and can often inhibit the growth of knowledge, which after all is the true purpose of science.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
rafflaw – the problem that a lot have about the religious right is that they are – right. What is “truth” in science today is found to be wrong tomorrow. For example, the alleged age of the earth. Not too long ago it was 2.2 million years old. Now they believe it is in the billions. The truth is, no one really knows. And what we observe doesn’t indicate such an old earth.
Mutations in Moms’ Genes Reveal Human Migration Through the Ages
Brandon Keim
Wired, 6/29/07
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/06/genographic_project
Excerpt:
DNA passed down through generations of mothers could help answer big questions about the human journey across continents, thanks to a massive new database created by the The Genographic Project.
The project has already yielded some provocative evidence about modern humans’ interactions with Neanderthals. The DNA data shows no evidence of mutations known to be common in Neanderthals, which suggests that modern humans — at least those of European descent — may not have mated with the long-extinct humans.
“We don’t see any Neanderthal lineages in the European gene pool,” said Spencer Wells, a population geneticist and director of the Genographic Project. “It would be my guess that there was no interbreeding. I can’t imagine that humans and Neanderthals didn’t give it a try — maybe they formed infertile offspring. But it’s speculative.”
*****
Genealogist Dr.Spencer Wells talks about Humans Genetics
This is interesting….Thanks Mike S….
I see RatShit4Brains has opened his wounded heart again to test the waters… I really wonder how this clown got through college must less life at this point….It must really be difficult to measure up to the demands of a fool….Very much a sycophant…
Excellent article, Mike. An enjoyable read leading to a valuable question well worth asking.
As an aside … I was raised in a small village just outside of Akron which is home to the University of Akron where Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich were headquartered and where the world’s first courses in rubber chemistry were taught and where the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering is now world renown.
Gyges and Elaine,
He left teaching the next year (I think we were the only class he taught because he was a very young man) and went to work for the rubber companies in research and development … then was part of the team that developed what became known as “polymer science” (materials science field) and made a ton of money which he called a bi-product.
He lived one street over from us which is why I know what he did after leaving the classroom.
I was answering Mike’s “We have been brought up to believe that science is a pure search for the truth …” with my own experience in that I was not brought up to believe that science was a “pure search for the truth” … something more realistic was what I was taught.
I suspect I was not as clear as I could have been as I was agreeing with the next sentence in Mike’s post: “This isn’t always the case.”
Good thing I’m not a scientist.
Blouise,
I think scientists should be skeptical of new theories. The theories should have to be proved/experiments replicated before being accepted. I remember discussing Lamarck’s discredited theory of animals being able to inherit characteristics that their parents may have acquired during their lifetimes when I was in high school.
eigrh = eight
the = that
Gyges,
What he was attempting to teach our eigrh grade class was the scientists could be as closed minded to new ideas as the next guy … we were studying solar energy at the time … 1958.
He was right.
Glad you focused on this Mike. Permit me to condense it down a bit further.
The problem is not “survival of the fittest”, the problem is the definition of “fit” then by extension the definition of “fittest”.
Social Darwinism embarrassed scientists, like global warming has, in the sense of the public reaction to the fear of death, so they waxed obscure to buy some time.
Survival of the most fit is not derogatory, the perversion of “what is most fit” is where the perversion entered into the picture.
One needs to back off and look into the future in order to discern what is most fit. Looking back into five past mass extinctions, or looking to the current ongoing sixth mass extinction now taking place to grasp the answer has no chance of success.
Instead, the nature of our solar system around us, as well as the galaxy at large, offer a more clear and unequivocal answer to the question of the nature of what is most fit to survive.
I think it tells us that our forefathers who were concerned with the common welfare were onto something cosmic.
Or maybe the neanderthals went extinct becasue they were too polyamorous for their own good and didn’t have a legal check on this promiscuous nature.
Mike Spinwell appears to be wielding Occam’s butterknife in this post.
Mike,
Just adding more info to the mix.
Blouise,
“resistance to new ideas was as prevalent in the science community as in any other community.”
Knowing a lot of scientists, I have to disagree. Science is like the arts, it draws people who have to prove they’re better than others. The whole structure of science is based around proving ideas wrong, so some of that seeps over into old ideas as well as new.
That said, yeah scientists are people like the rest of us.
Great article Mike!
The religious right won’t like the fact that Neanderthal’s were older than Earth!
Act III and oh brother, the dinosaurs are going to come roaring out of their hiding places!
“We have been brought up to believe that science is a pure search for the truth, backed by solid theories, proven by experimentation.”(Mike Spindell)
Not me. I had a fantastic eighth grade science teacher who constantly reminded us that science was an “attempt” to search for the truth through a process of theories and proven experimentation but that human error and resistance to new ideas was as prevalent in the science community as in any other community.
Thanks for another thought provoking post … the grandkids are emailing me and it’s been decided that this is the post for the month of August’s Sunday dinner papers and discussion.
“there’s no evidence of any mitochondrial DNA from neanderthals in modern man”
Gyges,
I’m less interested in how the argument finally pans out, than I am in how scientific theory can be influenced by an incorrect reading of Darwin, informed by peoples racial prejudice. That this can pollute science is of interest to me. Also lately I have been re-reading a lot of stuff about the political/social impact of Social Darwinism historically. Teddy Roosevelt was one racist SOB and it wasn’t limited to only blacks and Native Americans.
Got that bass ackwards. That argues pretty strongly against any widespread interbreeding between Neanderthal females and modern human males .
Mike,
One thing to keep in mind is that there’s no evidence of any mitochondrial DNA from neanderthals in modern man. That argues pretty strongly against any widespread interbreeding between Neanderthal males and modern human females.
We now know that every non-African population has a key chromosomal marker that existed in the Neanderthal genome (which has finally been fully sequenced). Looks like people of European descent are about 4-6% Neanderthal origin. Others slightly less, but that marker on chromosome 10 shows up in every single population, from Australian aborigines to the Chinese to American Indians to Scots…every single human being that isn’t of native ancestral African origin. Going to be interesting to see what scientists can make of it, and how that information will be perverted by those with an axe to grind.
I think the real evolutionary pressures on society are towards cooperation and community building. Look at all of the terrible and wonderful things people have accomplished by forming communities and working together. Great article, Mike – once again you do a better job than I ever could of articulating something I passionately believe in.