Neanderthal Society

      Although we know that Neanderthal males worked together to track and kill large game, it is much less certain that they lived in any kind of formal social relationship. The world on the Neanderthals was harsh; life was lived on a day-to-day survival basis. It is likely that males lived largely separate from females and children, hunting and scavenging in small groups. However Neanderthals lived, it was not a society as we know it. the Neanderthal would was one of small groups thinly spread over the landscape. Mating between males and females was random, with no permanent relationship or family unit. In fact, outside the small group, there was seldom any interaction with others.
      Within the small Neanderthal group, there was no formal leadership, no rules or laws people were expected to follow. If there was any primitive religion, it involved few rituals and no moral codes to guide life. Evidence gathered from Neanderthal sites suggests that their lives were lived on a very short-term basis with little organization. Although they wore clothes, they relied primarily on wraps to keep them warm, and there is no indication that they wore personal adornment to signify any type of social hierarchy. One definition of a society is a "system of human organizations that generates distinctive cultural patterns and usually provides protection, security, and continuity for its members." Using this definition, it would seem there is little reason to describe Neanderthals as living in a society.
      The image of Neanderthals as excellent big-game hunters is only partially correct, for although they did track and kill game such as the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros, they also scavenged for food. Neanderthal males seem to have been scavengers as much as they were hunters, as suggested by the horse heads excavated at many Neanderthal sites. The head is the least desirable part of the horse, and would likely have been left by other predators after they had killed and eaten the prime meat. Neanderthal males scavenging for food would have taken the head back to the camp to be shared with others. Most probably, Neanderthals were opportunistic hunters and scavengers, tracking game when available, and at other times relying on the remains left by other predators.
      While males scavenged and hunted, females and children spent more time close to the cave fire, preparing plan foods they had gathered and animal scraps brought to them by males. Given the uncertainty of the hunt, the gathering done by women and children was critical to the survival of Neanderthals.
      Did Neanderthals hold any religious beliefs? It has generally been assumed that they held no spiritual beliefs, but the discovery of Neanderthal burials has led some to speculate that they may, in fact, have had some kind of primitive beliefs. Given the absence of grave goods, it seems that if the Neanderthals did have any primitive beliefs, they certainly had no rituals associated with them.
      The skeletal remains of Neanderthals reveal the stresses of a difficult life. Most children died in childbirth or in the first few years of life, and 80 percent of adults died before the age of 40. Many suffered from a variety of ailments or permanent injuries inflicted during their struggle to survive. Neanderthals seem to have devised few ways to make their lives easier, relying instead on their physical strength to carry out the necessary tasks. Homes were simple, food never certain, and death a constant companion.
      What happened to the Neanderthal people? It is quite likely that their demise came at the hands of invading, anatomically modern humans from Africa. Homo sapiens sapiens had better weapons and tools, products of their superior intelligence and ingenuity. After inhabiting Europe and the Near East for 60 000 years, the Neanderthals were wiped out within a couple of thousand years by the killing, disease, and displacement brought by Homo sapiens sapiens. Some have suggested that the Neanderthals were assimilated by the invading people from Africa. This would appear unlikely, as there is no fossil evidence of a Homo sapiens sapiens-Neanderthal hybrid. In fact, the fossil evidence shows that within 2000 years, the Neanderthals had been completely replaced by Homo sapiens sapiens. Even if interbreeding did take place, there is some evidence to suggest that the offspring would not have survived, since the pelvic structure of the female Neanderthal suggest a 12-month pregnancy, rather than 9-month cycle normal for Homo sapiens. In the end, the invasion of modern humans (us) from Europe and Asia appears to have caused the extinction of the Neanderthals.

Difference:

- Males worked together
- Day-today survival basis
- Mating between male and female was rare so as permanent relationship
- Little communication outside the unit
- No formal leadership, no rules or law
- No rituals with beliefs
- Most children died in childbirth or in the first few years of life
- 80% of adults died before the age of 40
- Homes were simple
- Food was never certain

Extinction Conclusion: 

Neanderthals' society was not strong which led them to the end. They only worked in a small group and because of that, there was no formal leadership, no rules or laws people were expected to follow. They didn't like to communicate with other packs. Mating was rare but females and children were critical to the survival of Neanderthals. According to a data, 80% of adults died before they reach 40 and children died early, too. Although Homo sapiens sapiens were smarter Neanderthals had warrior-like bodies which might be able to fight against them. The point is that because their society, or the group, did not realize the importance of having offspring, and it was their pattern, they didn't not have enough population to survive from Homo sapiens sapiens.

Writing: ECHOES from the Past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.