Neanderthals: Sensible, Decent Homebodies; and My Ancestors

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František Kupka's illustration: reconstruction of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal, in the Illustrated London News. (February 27, 1909) Via 'How Humanity Came to Contemplate Its Possible Extinction: A Timeline', Thomas Moynihan, The MIT Reader (September 23, 2020), used w/o permission.

A long time ago, some folks were — apparently — living happily in the Rhône River Valley.

Whether or not they were happy there, we've found evidence that they stayed near what we call the Grotte Mandrin for 50,000 years. And that they somehow managed to keep newcomers from disturbing their solitude: and isolation.

Idyllic as that may seem, keeping themselves free from what my culture called miscegenation may explain why Neanderthals aren't part of today's world. Not as identifiable individuals, at any rate.

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

(DNA from Neanderthal remains in the Grotte Mandrin: where a community was isolated for 50,000 years. Another page from humanity's long story.)

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