Neanderthal Harbours II
Andre Willers
29 Jul 2013
Synopsis :
The Neanderthal-Homo hybrids spread all over the Mediterranean
littorals. From North Africa to Levant . !Click devolved into Proto-Nostratic.[1] .
Discussion
:
1.The
drying out of the Sahara at the end of the last ice age was the driving impulse
. See Appendix I
2.Saharan
populations splintered in all directions .
3.Southern
ones became Bantu
4.Eastern
ones became Egyptians and Natufian .
5.Western
ones recolonized Spain .
6.Northern
ones : Malta and Sicily .
7.Language
(Nostratic)
See
Appendix II .
This is
fairly comprehensive , including the recreation of !Click languages .
Just
substitute a !Click( teeth or tongue) for glottal stops (voiceless (teeth) or
glottal (tongue))
See
Appendix IV “Click Update” below -and other !Click posts in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com
Any
echo-location person can use this framework to recreate the language .
This will
enhanced their capability by orders of magnitude.
8.Note
that these guys were all over the world .Especially around coastal areas and areas
where the ice retreated.
Where to
dig ?
How far
could they paddle ?
This is 245.16 km in 24 hrs in optimal conditions .
Daylight hours give about 12 hrs on north African shore .
Error conditions gives about 1/3 of optimal .
Average km 245*12/24*1/3
= 40km .
Simply use a compass and measure likely camping sites within
40 km from any good camping site (eg water) on the North African littoral circa
the periods applicable .
This should give very good archeological sites . (The canoe
had limited carrying capacity . Any superfluous weight like broken tools got
jettisoned )
The whole of the North African shore at 40 km intervals is
littered with archeological detritus .
So is the Southern Shores of Europe . But most of these have
been overwritten by later civilizations .
Archaeologist’s
paradise :
Old
shores of the Aral Sea . Now land . Ground penetrating radar can be used. The
same argument above applies .
Actually ,
could be seen from orbit .
Here
looking at you !kid.
Andre
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Appendix I
A timeline .
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of
predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo
neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the
Old Stone Age.
Emirian culture was a culture that existed in the Levant
(Syria, Lebanon, Palestine) between the Middle Paleolithic and the Upper
Paleolithic periods.
Emirian culture apparently developed from the local
Mousterian without rupture, keeping numerous elements of the
Levalloise-Mousterian, together with the locally typical Emireh point. Numerous
stone blade tools were used, including curved knives similar to those found in
the Chatelperronian culture of Western Europe.
The Antelian culture is an Upper Paleolithic phase of the
Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine) that evolves from Emirian. The most important
innovation in this period is the incorporation of some typical elements of
Aurignacian, like some types of burins and narrow blade points that resemble
the European type of Font-Yves.
The Kebaran or Kebarian culture was an archaeological
culture in the eastern Mediterranean area (c. 18,000 to 12,500 BC), named after
its type site, Kebara Cave south of Haifa. The Kebaran were a highly mobile
nomadic population, composed of hunters and gatherers in the Levant and Sinai
areas who utilized microlithic tools.
The Kebaran is the last Upper Paleolithic phase of the
Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine). The Kebarans were characterized by
small, geometric microliths, and were thought to lack the specialized grinders
and pounders found in later Near Eastern cultures.
The Kebaran is preceded by the Athlitian phase of the Antelian
and followed by the proto-agrarian Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic. The
Kebaran is also characterised by the earliest collecting of wild cereals, known
due to the uncovering of grain grinding tools. It was the first step towards
the Neolithic Revolution. The Kebaran people are believed to have practiced
dispersal to upland environments in the summer, and aggregation in caves and
rockshelters near lowland lakes in the winter. This diversity of environments
may be the reason for the variety of tools found in their toolkits.
Situated in the Terminal Pleistocene, the Kebaran is
classified as an Epipalaeolithic society. They are generally thought to have
been ancestral to the later Natufian culture that occupied much of the same
range.[1]
“The Natufian culture /nəˈtjuːfiən/ was an Epipaleolithic
culture that existed from 13,000 to 9,800 B.C. in the Levant, a region in the
Eastern Mediterranean. It was unusual in that it was sedentary, or
semi-sedentary, before the introduction of agriculture. The Natufian
communities are possibly the ancestors of the builders of the first Neolithic
settlements of the region, which may have been the earliest in the world. There
is some evidence for the deliberate cultivation of cereals, specifically rye,
by the Natufian culture, at the Tell Abu Hureyra site, the site for earliest
evidence of agriculture in the world.[1] Generally, though, Natufians made use
of wild cereals. Animals hunted included gazelles.[2]
The term "Natufian" was coined by Dorothy Garrod
who studied the Shuqba cave in Wadi an-Natuf, in the western Judean Mountains,
about halfway between Tel Aviv and Ramallah.[3]”
“More generally there has been discussion of the
similarities of these cultures with those found in coastal North Africa. Graeme
Barker notes there are: "similarities in the respective archaeological
records of the Natufian culture of the Levant and of contemporary foragers in coastal
North Africa across the late Pleistocene and early Holocene boundary".[6]”
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Appendix II
Language . See Appendix III
Language
Nostratic is a hypothetical language family (sometimes
called a macrofamily or a superfamily) that includes many of the indigenous
language families of Eurasia, including the Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic
and Kartvelian languages. Usually also included are the Afroasiatic languages
native to the North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the
Near East, and the Dravidian languages of the Indian Subcontinent (sometimes
extended to Elamo-Dravidian, connecting India and the Iranian Plateau). The
exact composition and structure of the family varies among proponents.
The hypothetical ancestral language of the Nostratic family
is called Proto-Nostratic.[1] Proto-Nostratic would have been spoken in the
Epipaleolithic period, close to the end of the last glacial period.[2]
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Appendix III
Neanderthal Harbours
Andre Willers
5 Apr 2012
“A girl in every port”
Synopsis:
Sea-going Neanderthals survived and
merged into the Homo Saps , while their unsophisticated land cousins became
extinct .
Discussion :
Evidence:
See NewScientist 3 Mar 2012 p10
“Neanderthals were ancient mariners”
Mousterian (ie Neanderthal) tools
has recently been found on Greek islands (Lefkada , Kefalonia ,Zakynthos) that
could only have been reached by boats in the last 300 000 years . Crete as
well .
Nobody has really looked elsewhere ,
but Malta would be a good bet .
So would the Orkney Islands . See
link below
Why go to sea ?
The Neanderthals faced two major
challenges :
Overheating and short legs . (Their
evolution did not include a period of cursorial raptors , but more cold-adapted
, ambush hunters ) .
A dugout canoe solved both problems
. Rapid transport and cooling via a quick dip over the side .
We can thus infer that Neanderthals
were strong swimmers, with their cold-adaptation subcutaneous fat giving them
extra buoyancy and insulation .
Don’t sneer at dugout canoes .
Melanesians paddled all over the Pacific with them .
The Neanderthal build was ideal for
a paddler . Strong upper body , with lots of fast-twitch muscles . And Europe
abounded in trees suitable for the purpose . From big barks , to big hardwoods
.
Population grew slowly and proceeded
by growth at the peripheries . Living was easy by the shores , but lack of
large food surpluses kept numbers down .
Still , they got around in the
period 300 000 to 30 000 years before present .
They would have preferred the same
sites for harbours as later civilizations . So you would have to dig deep to
find traces .
The Neanderthal-HomoSaps meeting .
(about 50 000 years ago)
This was not a collision , or even a
competition initially . The Neanderthals had the best spots (water , harbours ,
hunting ,etc) . Small family groups of HomoSaps drifted in and joined them .
They were cousins , after all (even if the HomoSaps dogs could smell the
difference). Interbreeding started .
The Neanderthal civilization was a
thin coastal layer , connected by canoe networks , coastal hopping . This was
still faster than walking . Living was easy .
The good news spread east . HomoSaps
plus dogs were more efficient hunters than Neanderthal ambush hunters . A
population pressure developed towards the west , towards easier living
(remember , agriculture had not developed yet , but Humans were even then
territorial.)
The Neanderthals split into two
groups :
1.The inland ones could not compete
with HomoSaps plus dogs and became extinct . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “Death
of the Neanderthals” Sep 2009 . Repeated in Appendix I for your convenience.
2.The coastal ones (the
sophisticated ones) incorporated HomoSaps into their civilization , interbred
with them . Initially Lords of the Manor , figuratively speaking , their
descendants’ genes became mixed in the wash according to well-known genetic
principles .
Sheer HomoSaps numbers meant that
the present contribution of their genes varies between 4% – 10% , with even
higher percentages in certain geographical locations where gene-pools have
remained isolated . For instance , there is some evidence that Neanderthals
were pale-skinned and red-haired (google it) . Geographical isolation of
genepools in the North-Sea islands needs some investigation .
Think of it this way : “Cousin
George couldn’t make a living anymore in the old family cave , so we invited
him and his family to stay here in Cosy Harbour . We have plenty of lazy
HomoSaps servants and he can work on one of my canoes.”
!Click speakers
Neanderthals were definitely !click
speakers . Note their propensity for caves , and large stone heritages . See
previous posts on Click language.
Interesting asides:
1.Red hair and temper .
Ambush hunters are known for
hair-trigger , explosive adrenalin surges . Neanderthals would then have had an
explosive temper that quickly flared and then burned out . Definitely not a
cursorial raptor characteristic . Good for quick , decisive combats , but a
weakness against a cursorial raptor .
2.Hairy Mediterraneans :
I have seen many Levants , Italians
, etc who were extremely hairy . Shaggy is the word . I could never figure out
where they came from . Even HomoSaps from cold climates were not that hairy .
Now you know why . They had a heavy influx of neanderthal genes . Spread out
all over the Med shores .
The Neanderthal Harbours :
A pesky question . They would have
preferred the same sites for settlement that later humans did , with subsequent
destruction of evidence .
But , there is one difference :
Flint .
What is worthwhile transporting in a
canoe and can be traded ? Worked tools . This meant Flint at the time . And
work it they did . England was rich in flint and was extensively mined .
This happened in fits and starts
over a period of at least 1 000 000 years , including the Neanderthal
period . The flint had to be dug out , worked , transported. This meant
logistics .
The miners might have been supported
by local hunting , but the knappers were sophisticated technicians demanding
luxuries (ie imports) . The end product had to be exported . This was done by
water-transport . Canoes . A currency of some sort (markers of promise ,
supervised by priests) would be needed .
Fashion : initially , good
old-fashioned , workmanlike Mousterian tools were sold all over the place , but
the fashion shifted to lighter , fancier , more specialized tools .
So , before the Bronze-age
civilization there was the Neolithic civilization , encompassing about the same
trade-routes and using the same the same shippers . The Neolithic civilization
did not collapse , except for some ports . It segued into the Bronze-age
civilization .
But Bronze-age civilizations would
not need the same harbours as Neolithic civilizations . These harbours should
still be reasonably pristine .
Where to look in England :
There is a whole clutch of flint
mines near the South Coast of England (Cissbury) . The coastline kept changing
, so look for least-effort routes from Cissbury to the sea .
The harbour would probably be no
more than an inlet that would allow a large canoes to ground safely . But there
would be an associated warehouse and guardpost .
Pirates : a high-value shipment like
worked arms and tools would attract pirates . The shipments would then pulse in
well-armed convoys . The detritus from these land and sea-convoys would be
fertile fields for archaeologists , especially since they would be untouched by
later non-neolithic civilizations . So look for detritus middens at strategic
points near a old harbour . While the coastline would have changed extensively
, strategic lookouts and defensive points changes much slower . So , you could
probably use Google-Earth to rule out indefensible positions (most of them) .
The remainder can be done in detail .
This is an important question .
Were Neanderthals more fertile with
HomoSaps than with other Neanderthals ?
This is a distinct possibility .
Epigenetic factors that evolved to limit fertility were inoperative in the
crossbreeds . If they had children , they had lots of them , with no built-in
limitation .
Pandemic of Fertility :
Was the worldwide population
explosion from 1700 AD onward related ?
The answer seems to be yes. The act
of Union of Scotland and England in 1704 exposed the rest of the world to
prions evolved on some Scottish Island . These prions (folded proteins)
inactivated epigenetic controls on fertility . They were very infectious . The
pandemic of Fertility followed the well-known principles . It should be
possible to find Person(0) , where it all started . Some mixture of Neanderthal
and HomoSaps genes required for any immune response . HomoSaps without
Neanderthal genes will just remain switched-on into high-fertility .
The cure: now that you know what to
look for , engineer a prion that locks it .
And the Denisovans?
The third type of humans . The same principle
seems to hold . They spread over the Pacific Islands . Fertility controls were
deactivated and some nasty things ensued . But there should be clues on how to
re-activate the epigenetic controls , or at least de-activate the prions
responsible for de-activating the epigenetic controls . Compare with Scottish
example .
Come , ladies and gentlemen .
You have enough clues now to solve
this problem .
But I will give you a further clue :
Look at the Plant-Herbivore Wars .
Some Plants want more humans without limit . Look at the husks of the seeds ,
not the contents . Especially after boiling .
Malthus was wrong .
Overpopulation is an epidemical
disease , not a natural condition .
The overpopulation is caused by a
disease , usually plant-induced .
Plant Power , anyone ?
Andre
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Appendix I
Death of the
Neanderthals .
Andre
Willers.
5 Sep 2009
Synopsis:
The
Neanderthals died out because their legs were too short .
Discussion :
See
Scientific American Aug 2009 p34 " Twilight of Neanderthals"
Start quote
p 39 :
"the
energetic cost of locomotion was 32 percent higher in Neanderthals than
anatomically modern humans."
End quote .
What does
this mean ?
They ran
slower . With a heavier body . Heavy infantry vs light infantry .
The
multiplier :
Rapidly
varying climatic effects pushed Neanderthal communities into 3 subgroups (p37)
, Western Europe , Southern Europe and Western Asia . These types of
communities survived the genetic isolation in previous episodes by the
occasional migration of males . It only takes a few males to revitalize genetic
diversity .
Males' role
in the scheme of things . Cf equivalent occurrences in Pacific islands
circa 17th
and 18th centuries .
But humans
were cursorial raptors .
Adapted to
long-distance chases .
They
inderdicted enough Neanderthal males trying to reach other enclaves to ensure a
genetic diversity collapse .
Dogs .
Dogs
(wolves) were fellow travelers with humans . Not domesticated then (and some
think never really domesticated . Dogs can still interbreed with wolves . There
has been no fundamental genome change . Genetically , dogs are still
undomesticated . Notice how fast they go feral .) .
Humans could
run with them and the chase enforced a pack-leadership type of social
organization .
Wolves were
(and are)smart enough to change their behaviour to ensure their survival. Both
humans and wolves ate better if they shared prey according to pack protocols .
Humans-Dogs
(wolves).
This
partnership proved fatal to Neanderthals .
1.Genetic
diversity was fatally impaired by interdiction of groups of males trying to
travel to another enclave . While a bunch of Neanderthals could see off a bunch
of humans , they still had to eat . And the faster dogs and humans chased all
game away .
Or , more
likely , let the Neanderthals make the kill (usually whooly rhinocerous) , then
chase them away from the carcase . They could do this because they could run
faster and for longer and had projectile weapons (spears) . The really
classical advantage of mobility .
These would
have been small groups of adventurous humans . Juveniles . the equivalent of
soccer yobbos.
2.The
Human-dog system enveloped the Neanderthal enclaves and simply removed
their food supply .
3. MHC and
dogs .
Dogs (or
semi-wild wolves) would have learned to recognize the scent of Neanderthals .
These would have been exterminated as enemies of the Pack .
The only
surviving Neanderthal genomic material would be in those with MHC tolerable to
dogs .
For some
reason , Anatolian Sheepdogs keep on popping up in my mind . These were and are
actually the only surviving , working wolf-killers , but they might have
learned to tolerate Neanderthal MHC . (On the principle of the enemy of my
enemy is my friend .)
So , if you
were looking for some Neanderthal genes , the wilds of Anatolia would be a good
place to look . Especially if there are lot of Anatolian sheep-dogs around .
The Neanderthal anatomical features would have been very diluted .
Ie , it
would not have been genetic incompatibility that prevented miscegenation , but
the dogs not tolerating an alien .
These would
long predate Bronze age , Aryan , Celtic , Persian , Greek , Roman or Turkic
populations .
Old , old .
4.Neanderthals
could not compete
Because
wolves would not adopt them into the pack . They were not cursorial raptors.
Their legs were too short .
5. Now do
you see why humans run ?
Running
releases aromatic compounds (pheromones , MHC's , etc) that defines a person as
human . Your dog requires walkies not just for exercise , but to reassure
himself that you are still a member of the pack . Humans are now so washed ,
deodorized and scented that a poor dog can only recognize his fuehrer if he
sweats a bit .
The same is
true for inter-human reactions .
Huddling
together in gymnasiums .
Or even
intra-human reactions .
The parts of
a human interacting with each other , defining boundaries .
But all your
organs still need chemical communication to tell each other they are part of
the same pack .
6. The
loneliness of the long-distance runner .
Actually ,
he is not lonely at all . He is enveloped in a cloud of sweat and aromatic
chemicals that tells his identity and position in the pack . His ancestors are
all with him . His footfalls entrain him .
Hence the
effects of even slight breezes . Washing away the effluvium . A top athlete
will perform better with a slight breeze from behind (reinforcing) , while the
others will perform better with a breeze to the side or from front . (Reducing
self-limitation.)
A heavier
breeze from behind will actually reduce performance of the top athlete . These
boundaries can be calculated exactly .
See Tim
Noakes on fatigue and other self-limiting mechanisms . Olfactory and aural
mechanisms are major pack governing systems .
7. School
curricula
Can you see
why running fast or long is so important to humans ? It defines them .
Thousands of
years later , and children are still measured by these skills . Major
planet-wide competitions are held .
8. Click ,
Chi and running and breathing .
Pronounce
Chi the correct , old way :
!xi : A
tongue click on exhalation.
!xo : A
tongue click on inhalation.
In long
distance , endurance running this measures the amount of oxygen inhaled or CO2
exhaled , depending on the patterns of clicks and tongue conformations .
And all
those Eastern Mystical Ways ?
The force of
Chi ?
Just another
click .
A running
song would automatically evolve in click-language in optimal configurations . A
fast chasing song , or a slowlong-chase song or a rushing song . All
automatically balancing O2/CO2 with slow-twitch/fast twitch muscle requirements
.
You can see
how songs evolved . Nobody is going to sit around saying !xi - !xo at every
inhalation-exhalation . (Except the demented priesthood) . The rest simply made
up songs (working ditties ) . The origins of mantras .
"Om
mane padme sum" a well known mantra .
"!xm
!xm!xn !xp!xd(left twist of tongue) !xme(right twist of tongue) !xsm(a fat
click with a left twist to the tongue,recovering from the previous right twist
of the tongue )
Combat :
They were formidable heavy infantry . See Etruscans below .
As you can
see , not a language for faint-tongued .
9.Click-poetry
.
From the
Lescaux caves : a free translation :
"!xp-!xp-!xop
joined the thunder of the hooves . But I still see her shy backward look and
hear her in the hesitant patter of the wind in the trees ."
10.
Etruscans .
The
indications are that Etruscans were remnants of Neanderthal genetic mixtures
that fled from Anatolia circa 1200 BC .
Markers :
1.Big noses
.
Neanderthals
were cold-adapted . Over at least 500 000 years of climatic vicissitudes . This
is a very strong positive adaptation to dry climates , whether cold or hot .
Genes for this would have spread rapidly .
Greek noses
were straight . Roman noses were , well , Roman .
So the
Etruscans came in before the Greek irruption .
Roman noses
came from the Etruscans (like most else Roman) .
2. Click
language
Note the
puzzling lack of recognizable inscriptions on their many tombs .
The
inscriptions are there , but just not recognized .
Try
Click-resonances as described above and in previous posts .
3. Suffixes
in Latin .
A typical
result of a click ur-language . The vowels are the opening and closing of the
jaw after click , with some twisting and guttural effects .
4. Combat
styles .
Heavy
infantry .Most telling . Most people assume that the Roman Heavy Infantry style
comes from the Greek Hoplites . Actually, it comes from the Etruscan , and
there is some evidence that the Greeks learned a lot about this from the Etruscans
.
Why else
trade with them ? Greeks were Yankee or Viking traders : they only traded if
they could not take .
So , if you
want Neanderthal genes , go to Tuscany .
PS. Tuscan
hounds (ie Anatolian dogs) were renowned in Roman days .Still is .
Nice doggie
.
Andre
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Appendix IV
Click Update
Andre Willers
5 Mar 2012
Synopsis:
Clicks have been found in all living
English languages , and suspected in all others .
Discussion :
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com for
Click related blogs from 2009 onward .
See ScientificAmerican Feb 2012 p 14
“Just a Click away” by A.Pycha
See “Journal of International
Phonetic Association”
Work by Melissa Wright of Birmingham
University , UK
She found clicks in complete
conversations , indicating “anyway” or “so” , ie a bifurcation of meaning .
Both in UK and American English .
In other words , a meta-indicator ,
organizing the spoken words in a way that cannot be confused with actual words
.
This has immediate relevance to
spoken computer commands .
Siri desperately needs this
un-ambiguity .
We now find that spoken languages
already have it built in .
Some conversions : (! indicates a
click , usually elided from the sensorium)
Those old placers :
“um” = “!um”
“ah” = “!ah”
“eh” = “!eh”
“oh” = “!oh”
“ih” = “!ih”
are remnants of the old Click
language .
Siri is a Smart system , and
presumably has already learned this .
Congratulations to iPod users . They
are resurrecting a totally dead language in a fashion that I have not even
imagined .
A Siri-user can then deliberately
develop !Click for meta-commands .
And Siri will learn them .
Now teach Siri in Neolithic caves or
megalithic environments .
Siri will automatically resurrect an
ancestral language fossil , written in the echoes of the stone .
Beautiful !
The first AI learning that humans
could not have taught , even in principle .
An interesting aside :
People still using !Click sounds in
a first language (eg !Xhosa) , noticeably uses “eh” and”ah”more frequently when
speaking English than First language English speakers
Listen to any South African
politician .
The hidden !click markers in English
leads to confusion in translation in the language centers in the brain .
If Ms Wright's instruments could
detect the subliminal !clicks , the brain also can .
There is another consequence .
It is nearly impossible to lie in
!click . Thus , a speaker using !click sounds as a first language is at a
distinct disadvantage in the lying game .
But this is also true for any
English speaker .
LieDetector App
Any present Siri system can be
trained to be a lie-detector . Steve Job's little farewell present .
I think it holds for tonal languages
(eg Chinese) as well . Xhosa is a tonal language , and the !click meta-markers
are there .
Liar App
An inevitable consequence of the
LieDetection App . And we're off to the arms races .
All happening as we speak .
Isn't Presemt History exciting ?
Andre
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