Thursday 14 March 2013

Neanderthals - Seeing is Non-Existing

"Since Neanderthals evolved at higher latitudes, more of the Neanderthal brain would have been dedicated to vision and body control, leaving less brain to deal with other functions like social networking," 
(BBC Website)

It is a louring eventide of the late autumn. A Neanderthal man sits quietly, enjoying the sights before him. On the trunk of the nearby tree - its shadowy side showing a patchwork of grays and browns - tiny lichen cling, hunkered down against the oncoming winter.  Fawn-gray rabbits gambol, while the silvery-blue brook runs through the verdant grassy meadow. In the cerise of the setting sun, the wings of migrating geese can be seen, iridescent as they chase towards the South. Beyond the geese, the clouds, heavy with snow and tinged pink with the sun-set, can be seen to be shedding the first rays of sleet of the season...

*SMACK*

A Cro-Magnon, sneaking up with a club, could see only a dim outline. But it smelt of Neanderthal, and that was enough. Using his better social awareness, the Cro-Magnon has ensured his family can eat.

As he drags his prey off home, the Cro-Magnon wonders why the Neanderthal was sitting there in the dark.

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