Fitch and Polar Neandertals
I was going to post this yesterday, but blogger.com has been out. Seems to be working again, so here goes nothing:
Science has a nice, personal obit for Walter Fitch. It's well worth reading.
Science also has a report from Slimak et al. on Neandertal tools found in the polar Ural mountains at a site called Byzovaya. This significantly extends the range of Neandertals, but even more importantly, it puts them about a hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. That's a pretty cold place to live, certainly not the ideal place for a brutish, soulless animal. You'd have to be pretty smart to beat the Arctic cold. Cool stuff. Literally.
Slimak et al. 2011. Late Mousterian Persistence near the Arctic Circle. Science 332:841-845.
Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.
Science has a nice, personal obit for Walter Fitch. It's well worth reading.
Science also has a report from Slimak et al. on Neandertal tools found in the polar Ural mountains at a site called Byzovaya. This significantly extends the range of Neandertals, but even more importantly, it puts them about a hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. That's a pretty cold place to live, certainly not the ideal place for a brutish, soulless animal. You'd have to be pretty smart to beat the Arctic cold. Cool stuff. Literally.
Slimak et al. 2011. Late Mousterian Persistence near the Arctic Circle. Science 332:841-845.
Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.