Claim CC051:
Neanderthal man was reconstructed from a fossil skeleton badly deformed by
disease. Neanderthals really are not much different from modern humans.
Source:
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1985. Life--How Did It Get Here?
Brooklyn, NY, p. 95.
Response:
- An early stereotype of Neanderthals was that they were stooped, very
hairy, and had divergent big toes. Straus and Cave (1957) showed that
they were fully human in posture. However, Neanderthals do have
distinctive features that distinguish them from modern humans (Straus
and Cave 1957). Some of these features -- powerful bones and muscles,
in particular -- cannot plausibly be attributed to pathology or injury.
- Neanderthals are known from many specimens. It is extremely unlikely
that all of them would be suffering from exactly the same illness.
Links:
Foley, Jim. 2002. Creationist arguments: Neandertals.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/a_neands.html
References:
- Straus, W. L. Jr. and A. J. E. Cave, 1957. Pathology and the posture
of Neanderthal man. Quarterly Review of Biology 32(4): 348-363.
created 2003-6-24
