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CSI: 50,000BC; Humans to blame for Neanderthal murder.


Byline: MIKE SWAIN Michael ("Mike") Lee Swain (born December 21, 1960 in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is one of the most successful American judokas. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984.  

A MURDER mystery at least 52,000 years old has been solved - and it looks like we humans have to plead guilty.

A male Neanderthal's skeleton known as Shanidar 3 was found in a cave with a wound to his ribs.

The killers thought they got away with it but research by modern scientists now points the blame squarely at us - Homo sapiens Homo sapiens

(Latin; “wise man”)

Species to which all modern human beings belong. The oldest known fossil remains date to c. 120,000 years ago—or much earlier (c.
.

We and Neanderthals lived in the same areas for a time before our neighbours became extinct.

Neanderthals were shorter and stouter than our ancestors Our Ancestors (Italian: I Nostri Antenati) is the name of Italo Calvino's "heraldic trilogy" that comprises The Cloven Viscount (1952), The Baron in the Trees (1957), and The Nonexistent Knight (1959). .

Another big difference was that we threw spears but they preferred a shorter, stabbing implement.

Expert Steven Churchill, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University in America, said: "When a pig carcass was stabbed with a thrust spear its ribs were busted to hell.

"The high kinetic energy had caused a lot of damage in the area. However, whatever created this puncture was carrying fairly low kinetic energy at a low momentum.

"That's consistent with a thrown spear. We think the best explanation for this injury is a projectile projectile

something thrown forward.


projectile syringe
see blow dart.

projectile vomiting
forceful vomiting, usually without preceding retching, in which the vomitus is thrown well forward.
 weapon.

"And given who had those and who didn't, this implies at least one act of inter-species aggression." The report appeared in the Journal of Human Evolution.

The team even concluded the wound had started to heal and the victim probably died a few weeks after the attack from some secondary injury or infection.

Shanidar 3, who was in his 40s or 50s and had signs of arthritis, was one of nine Neanderthals discovered between 1953 and 1960 in Iraq's Zagros Mountains.

Mr Churchill added this single wound did not mean that humans and Neanderthals had been involved in all-out war.

He said: "We're not suggesting there was a blitzkrieg blitzkrieg

(German: “lightning war”) Military tactic used by Germany in World War II, designed to create psychological shock and resultant disorganization in enemy forces through the use of surprise, speed, and superiority in matériel or firepower.
 with modern humans marching across the land and executing the Neanderthals.

"In some areas the interaction was probably peaceful and there was interbreeding and cultural exchange. In others it was pretty violent."

1856

The year the first Neanderthal skeleton was found near Dusseldorf

5-6INCHES

Height advantage Homo sapiens would have had over Neanderthals

CAPTION(S):

AM I TOO EARLY? Model of Neanderthal
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Title Annotation:Features
Publication:The Mirror (London, England)
Date:Aug 5, 2009
Words:352
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