• ronl2k@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Neanderthals went extinct because they couldn’t survive the ice age of 40,000 years ago. Unlike homo-sapiens, they never learned to sew, so they couldn’t make tighter-fitting fur clothing to keep warm. They mostly wore loose-fitting animal hides.

    • plyth@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      Ice wasn’t everywhere. The sewing can’t be the only reason but interesting nevertheless.

      • ronl2k@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        Ice wasn’t everywhere.

        The last ice age of 40,000 years ago covered everywhere Neanderthals lived, and no Neanderthals survived it. The last Neanderthals went extinct from exposure in a cave in Spain, which was affected by the last ice age.

        No sewing equipment has ever been found with Neanderthals. They died of exposure in spite of being more cold-hardy than homo-sapiens, who by the last ice age had mastered sewing tighter-fitting clothing with leather and fur. That’s why we survived the last ice age, and the Neanderthals did not.

          • ronl2k@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            From your article:

            Pre- and early Neanderthals seem to have continuously occupied only France, Spain, and Italy, although some appear to have moved out of this “core-area” to form temporary settlements eastward (without leaving Europe). Nonetheless, southwestern France has the highest density of sites for pre- and classic Neanderthals.

            • plyth@feddit.org
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              8 hours ago

              continuously

              They were expelled elsewhere. If they were not they would have survived.

              It is also possible that they didn’t need sewing but are extinct because sewing allowed us to finally also settle Europe.