Has Hollywood ruined early hominid history?

Did Homo sapiens survive because of intelligence, or biology?

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens both existed during the same time, however, as of roughly 30,000 years ago, we no longer see Neanderthals. While Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are both distinctly different species, they often occupied the same ecological niches, and even migrated out of Africa in similar patterns. So why is it that Neanderthals became extinct? This blog aims to examine just that question. Today's topic? Tackling the misconceptions created by the grandiose imagination of Hollywood.

Hollywood, and the media, have depicted Neanderthals as thuggish, brutish, mentally handicapped, and linguistically retarded. In comparison, the media has created the image of the Homo sapiens as a tall, elegant, intelligent, and technologically advanced beings. Thus, according to popular culture, the obvious reason Neanderthals became extinct is because Homo sapiens possessed the intellectual acuity and technology to force Neanderthals into extinction. Unfortunately, this skewed version of our early hominid history has become the popular idea of what Neanderthals and Homo sapiens were like. For example, the short video below highlights the brainless behavior and crude grunting that often characterizes Neanderthals in the media. 

Popular culture's reach has even extended to the realms of literary historical fiction in the series Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel.

The Clan of The Cave Bear is the first book in the Earth's Children series.

The books follow the journey of the unreasonably handsome Jondalar, and the gorgeous and exceptionally brilliant Ayla as they struggle through surviving harsh conditions, and traverse the intricacies of racial mixing (between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens). According to Wikipedia:

The series includes a highly-detailed focus on botany, herbology, herbal medicine, archaeology and anthropology, but it also features substantial amounts of romance, coming-of-age crises, and — employing significant literary license — the attribution of certain advances and inventions to the protagonists. 

Source: Wikipedia. (2005, May 3rd). Earth's children. Wikepedia. Retrieved November 9th, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_Children. 

For the sake of full disclosure, I must admit that I have read most of the books in this series, however, being an anthropology major has, for the most part, made it possible for me to decipher what is scientific fact versus what is literary "mind candy". Although, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what is scientific and what isn't.

I bring up the Earth's Children series because the author creates the image of the Neanderthal clans in the book as being severely intellectually, and innovatively, handicapped compared to the Homo sapiens in the novel. The Neanderthals produce awkward grunts, lame weapons (and there is no mention of lithics), have such short and stout builds that they move unreasonably slow, and they even engage in multiple acts of rape in the books. Now, this isn't to say that rape and poor weaponry didn't historically occur, but it is written in a way which creates the notion that Neanderthals are, in one word, stupid. This contrasts immensely with the storyline of Ayla who learns herbal medicine, discovers that flint makes a good fire starter, sews intricate beaded pants, hunts using spears and throwers that she invented, rides horses, has birth control, and even has time to create delicious meals. Adding to the massive disparity between the true archaeological past of early hominids and Hollywood's version of it, is the fact that the first novel in the Earth's Children series was made into a feature film. And it wouldn't be the classic Neanderthal-Homo sapiens film without the actors running around barefoot in fur loin cloths and somehow perfectly shaved legs and coiffed hair. In fact, the entire feature length film is on YouTube for all to enjoy.

While, everyone loves a good story, Hollywood's creation of Neanderthals is truly incorrect. In a sense, the fact that pop culture's notions of early hominids are so widely accepted begs to ask the question: Are we the "dumb" ones for believing this nonsense?

Hollywood is an easy target to blame for the misconceptions circulating today, but the truth is, Hollywood isn't solely to blame. For more than sixty years textbooks have been teaching that Neanderthals went extinct because they were less intelligent than Homo sapiens. However, current archaeological analysis and advancements in scientific testing  provide cutting edge explanations for the anatomical, innovative, and adaptive differences between the two species. It isn't that one was smarter than the other, simply put, evidence strongly suggests that Homo sapiens lived on because they were better adapted for the rapidly changing climate of the Paleolithic era. Bergmann's and Allen's rules explain that the robust build of a Neanderthal is due to the fact that they are more suited for cold climates (which makes sense since Neanderthals migrated and lived in the much colder climate of Europe much before Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa). Vice versa, Bergmann's and Allen's rules accurately explain why modern Homo sapiens are more gracile and lean (an adaptation that is best for warmer climates, such as Africa). Moreover, there is concrete evidence that Neanderthals had speech capability (as shown by the presence of a hyoid bone from remains found in Kebara Cave, Israel ), which suggests that Neanderthals had no clear disadvantage in speech compared to Homo sapiens. It must also be mentioned that for a long period of time early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals both used Mousterian stone tool technologies, which again suggests that early modern humans may not have been "more intelligent".

With so much in common, the explanation for why Neanderthals went extinct cannot simply be explained by saying they were less intelligent. What it comes down to is a matter of perspective. Instead of looking at the reasons for why Neanderthals were inferior, we should perhaps be looking at what the similarities between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals can teach us about the past, and how the attributes and peculiarities of each species changed over time. In doing this, a well rounded understanding of the patterns of migration of Homo sapiens, and the eventual Neanderthal extinction can be created.