Friday Archaeology Blogging
...now with extra neandertals!

So here's the deal, folks. I was going to do something Roman today, but I'm sicker than two dogs, so this is going to be a fairly feeble effort. I thought I'd simply update the recent Friday Archaeology Blogging on neandertals, since there have been a coupleo of interesting discoveries since I posted it:



More human-Neandertal mixing evidence uncovered
By: Washington University in St. Louis
Published: Nov 3, 2006 at 07:24

A reexamination of ancient human bones from Romania reveals more evidence that humans and Neandertals interbred.
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The team says that the mixture of human and Neandertal features indicates that there was a complicated reproductive scenario as humans and Neandertals mixed, and that the hypothesis that the Neandertals were simply replaced should be abandoned.

No real surprise here, and there's also this article out of China:

Modern humans interbred with Neanderthals

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study reveals that when modern humans met Neanderthals the two species viewed each other as "socially appropriate mates."

Perhaps it's the head cold talking, but I would imagine that early humanity's definition of a "socially appropriate mate" was pretty broad. Sort of like down at my local pub around about 11:30 on a Saturday night. Anyway, that's all for this week. Apologies, and hopefully next week will be better.