EVOLUTION OF MAN 



243 



Known remains of these people are more numerous than are those of the 

 men discussed above: between eighty and ninety individuals are repre- 

 sented by skeletal remains of varying completeness. 



Neanderthal men whom we may regard as typical had brains at least as 

 large as those of modern man, averaging about 1400 cc. In a sense, how- 

 ever, their brains were large in the wrong places. The lower and posterior 

 portions of the brain were large, the upper and anterior portions being less 

 well developed. Since the upper and anterior portions of the cerebral 

 hemispheres seem to be most closely associated with higher mental proc- 

 esses, it is possible that the somewhat old-fashioned Neanderthal brain was 

 connected with a degree of intelligence less than that of modern man. At 

 any rate, the peculiarities of the 

 brain affected the shape of the 

 skull (Fig. 11.14). The forehead 

 was low and slanting, and heavy 

 eyebrow ridges projected over 

 the orbits of the eyes. As in Pithe- 

 canthropus, the greatest width of 

 the skull was at the level of the 

 ears, the skull tapering upward 

 from that point. By contrast, the 

 large cerebral hemispheres of 

 the modern human brain cause 

 the skull to bulge above the level 

 of the ears, the greatest width of 

 the skull occurring at this higher 

 level. 



The bones of the brain case 

 averaged about 7.2 mm. in thickness. We note that this thickness is inter- 

 mediate between that of the skulls of Pithecanthropus and of modern man 

 (p. 239). The teeth were large, and there was no chin. 



The Neanderthal peoples were shorter than are most modern groups; 

 the men seem to have averaged a little over 5 feet in height, the women 

 somewhat shorter. This small stature was due in part to the short legs, in 

 which the shortness of the lower leg (shin) was particularly marked. They 

 were stout, powerfully built people. Early restorations seemed to indicate 

 that these people did not have a fully upright posture but later investiga- 

 tions have shown this interpretation to have been incorrect, having arisen 

 from the fact that the first specimen restored was pathological, the skeleton 

 of an individual suffering from severe arthritis (Straus and Cave, 1957). 



FIG. n.l4. Skull of 

 (After McGregor; from 

 Paleontology, University 

 1945, p. 357.) 



Neanderthal man. 

 Romer, Vertebrafe 

 of Chicago Press, 



