WI: Neanderthals Survive

How might have human history been different if Neanderthals had not gone extinct, and had either shared Earth with Homo Sapiens, or replaced them entirely?
 
How exactly would the Neanderthals overtake the Homo Sapiens, and how would the two species remain distinct? Some theories point to interbreeding, which would become quite likely if the two managed to coexist.
 
Neanderthals.

It depends on several factors. They could have even ended up being enslaved, since the the degree of cultural distinctiveness between Neaderthals and moderns can't be determined by the fossil record.
 
Neanderthals were in general stronger and had slightly bigger brains, so that would have to factor into any discussion. Also, for some reason they didn't use projectile weapons, their injuries were consistent with those of rodeo cowboys (i.e., they always got up close with their prey).
 
You'd basically have to get rid of all the factors which got rid of all the other species within the hominid genus. At one time there were probably about 5 or 6. POD would probably involve such things as no Toba Catastrophe around 75000 years ago, lessened migration of Cro-Magnon man into Europe, and perhaps a less xenophobic and efficient at expansion Cro-Magnon man.
 
Exploration of cultural impact by way of television...

cavemen2.jpg
 
Exploration of cultural impact by way of television...

heheh...funny...but given Neanderthal's physical dimensions, if they survived to this day, I'm guessing they'd actually be a lot like Tolkein's dwarves: Short, stocky, really powerfully built and a bit enigmatic (being a different species and thus different way of thinking and communicating with).
 
How might have human history been different if Neanderthals had not gone extinct, and had either shared Earth with Homo Sapiens, or replaced them entirely?

The problem is that no one knows why they actually became extinct in the first place. There are mnay theories but nobody really knows. There should have been enough land for everyone in those days. The Earth's human population would have been very small, even smaller after the giant volcano of 75,000 years ago, so finding a habitat shouldn't have been a problem.

Neanderthals were much stronger than humans and should have been smart enough to evade danger.
 
check my sig for one possible answer. it however was stuck in asb for me not caring enough to document 30,000 years of history
 
Actually my thread had them making it to the New World. I also did one where they survived in Britain.

From what I've pieced together, the Neanderthals were specialized for hunting large game through ambushes in forested areas. Based on the number of broken bones, they got up close and personal with their prey--the only modern human population with comparable number and type of fractures is rodeo riders.

They were far more muscular than modern humans, but probably nowhere near as good at long-distance running. They probably covered smaller territories than most modern human hunter-gatherers. They were probably not well-suited to open plains. Apparently living on the open plains required too much long-distance movement to follow the game, and Neanderthals' bulky bodies wore out too quickly in that environment. Open plains were kind of emergency use only areas, and the Neanderthal skeletons from those areas showed signs of crippling arthritis. Joints just wore out.

Again, piecing things together: I'm guessing that Neanderthals died out as a result of a serious of events: (1) A series of volcanoes (smaller than Toba but regionally devastating, nearly exterminated the populations in the Caucasus and surrounding areas, allowing modern humans to flow into open plains north of the primary Neanderthal area. This wasn't prime Neanderthal territory anyway, but the moderns were better than Neanderthals at exploiting the open areas and that cut the Neanderthals off from using the plains as a buffer when forests shrank in front of the glaciers. (2) around 40,000 years ago a couple of regionally devastating volcanoes knocked Neanderthal populations in Italy and surrounding areas down low enough that moderns just swamped them. (3) Neanderthals held out in southern Spain for up to 10,000 more years, but the last advance of the glaciers essentially eliminated suitable (forested) habitat and they died. (4) Recent genetic studies seem to prove that a percent or two of the DNA for Europeans came from Neanderthals, though the interbreeding seems to have happened exclusively or nearly exclusively in the Middle East before moderns invaded Europe.
 
As to how you get Neanderthals surviving, maybe make the Italian volcanoes more frequent but less devastating. Italy, or at least maybe Sicily could become the last refuge of the Neanderthals. I suppose you could also have them survive in a refuge in southern Spain. Apparently one of the last surviving groups was in the vicinity of the Rock of Gibraltar. The problem with both of those scenarios is that you have to have a large enough population to be sustainable for tens of thousands of years. The Neanderthals also have to not be swamped by the various waves of modern humans that swept through, with the Neolithic farmers sweeping in and new groups becoming prominent with every major technological or organizational advance. They would also have to survive all of the human plagues. Not easy to have happen.
 
Would it be ASB at all for Neanderthals to develop agriculture earlier than homo sapiens did IOTL? A species not suited for long-distance running in an environment where that would be necessary to hunt -- i.e. plains, as DaleCoz said -- seems like a great situation for the development of sedentary agriculture and domestication of animals.

What I'd be interested in, is the linguistic effects of some of their anatomical differences from homo sapiens. Such as their lack of a mental protuberance.
 
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