Neandertals are especially important for understanding human evolution, because, along with Denisovans, they are our closest known relatives. Their rich fossil and archaeological record allows us to investigate their anatomy and behavior to ask questions about their relationship to us, their adaptations to glacial (cooler) environments, their growth and development, their life histories, and why they contributed only a small amount to the genomes of present-day humans. Paleoanthropologists at UC Davis are addressing these questions in a variety of ways.
Anatomy
A major focus of Dr. Tim Weaver's research is to address specific questions about why Neandertal, early modern human, or present-day human skeletons look the way they do, and why they look different from each other. In his work, he strives to integrate approaches and datasets from population and molecular genetics with traditional studies of the fossil record. His work on the cranium highlights the role of genetic drift in producing differences between Neandertals and modern humans. He has conducted morphometric studies and virtual reconstructions of the Neandertal pelvis, which suggest that Neandertals had a somewhat different birth process than modern humans. Additionally, he is investigating Neandertal postcranial development by studying the two best preserved Neandertal neonatal skeletons, from Mezmaiskaya, Russia, and Le Moustier, France.
Graduate student Mayowa Adegboyega is addressing the evolution of pelvic anatomy in her research. She is currently working on virtual reconstruction of the most complete Neandertal pelvis, from Kebara, Israel and is looking at doing comparative analysis with modern human
Behavior
Studies of Neandertal behavior provide a unique perspective into the complexity and evolution of human behavior, not only because of our close genetic relationship but also because our populations frequently overlapped in time and/or space. Comparing and contrasting Neandertal and modern human approaches to occupying prehistoric landscapes can help us better understand why Neandertals disappeared by 30,000 years ago while humans were able to survive and thrive. Using archaeological evidence, researchers study a variety of topics such as diet, tool production and use, social organization, symbolic behavior, and cultural exchange.
At UC Davis, our current research focus on Neandertal behavior comes primarily from a zooarchaeological perspective - we use the faunal record, or animal bones from archaeological sites, to investigate our research questions:
Dr. Teresa Steele is interested in knowing how Neandertal diets were similar and different from the Upper Paleolithic modern humans who replaced them in Europe.
Associate researcher Naomi Martisius studies the production and use of specialized bone tools in Neandertal contexts by comparing bone tools made by Homo sapiens shortly after Neandertals went extinct. She is using a holistic approach to study these tools starting with raw material selection. Neandertals made bone tools from the ribs of animals they likely hunted for subsistence purposes, but it is likely that Neandertals had a preference for the bones they chose to make tools from. Naomi also looks at the traces preserved on the bone tools, as well as their breakage patterns, to determine how the tools were made, used, and eventually discarded.
Graduate student Susan Lagle uses models drawn from ancient and modern hunter-gatherer studies to explore the interaction between Neandertal subsistence strategies, mobility, and stone tool production in southwest France during cold-climate phases.
