Science: Upgrading Neanderthal Man

Almost from the moment his bones were first discovered in Germany's Neander Valley a century ago, his name has been synonymous with brutishness: a squat, shambling creature who wooed his women with a club and sometimes ate his fellow men when he was hungry. Scientists have long doubted this harsh popular image of Homo neanderthalensis, or Neanderthal man. Now, as the evidence accumulates, Neanderthal man is rapidly being rehabilitated into a more attractive ancestor of modern man.

From remains found in Europe, archaeologists have already concluded that Neanderthals were skilled hunters and toolmakers, held formal burial rites that indicated a belief...

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