The First Humans: Neanderthals
Early human, Neanderthal man (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), existed between 230,000 and 30,000 years ago and is generally considered a subspecies of Homo sapiens. Neanderthal fossil remains were first found in Neanderthal, W. Germany in 1856. The so-called classic Neanderthals were robust and had a large, thick skull, a sloping forehead, and a chinless jaw. Their brains were somewhat larger than that of most modern humans, but this is probably correlated with their greater bulk. Neandertals mostly lived in cold climates, and their body proportions are similar to those of modern cold-adapted peoples: short and solid, with short limbs. Men averaged about 168 cm (5'6") in height. Their bones are thick and heavy, and show signs of powerful muscle attachments. Neandertals would have been extraordinarily strong by modern standards, and their skeletons show that they endured brutally hard lives. The Neanderthals' middle Paleolithic culture included stone tools, fire, and cave shelters. They were formidable hunters, and are the first people known to have buried their dead, with the oldest known burial site being about 100,000 years old.

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