Investigating Neanderthals

Resource for Grades 6-12
| Citation

WGBH: NOVA scienceNOW
Investigating Neanderthals

Media Type:
Video

Running Time: 2m 52s
Size: 9.9 MB

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Source: NOVA scienceNOW: "What Makes Us Human?"


Resource Produced by:

WGBH Educational Foundation

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WGBH Educational Foundation

Collection Credits

Collection Funded by:

National Science Foundation HHMI Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Public Television Viewers

In this video excerpt from NOVA scienceNOW, correspondent and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue introduces the timeline of human evolution and explores the shapes of hominid heads. Early human ancestors migrated out of Africa and developed into different groups. Neanderthals evolved in Europe and western Asia and existed for hundreds of thousands of years before becoming extinct. Human evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman demonstrates how Neanderthal skulls differ from modern human skulls and how head shape may be the key to understanding why Neanderthals did not survive.
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Supplemental Media Available:

Worksheet (Document)

Crossword Puzzle (Document)

Accessibility Features: Caption, Transcript

open Discussion Questions

  • What do you think it means that there were once several different kinds of hominids coexisting on the planet?
  • How do we learn about Neanderthals? What do we know about them?
  • What is the main physical difference between a Neanderthal and a modern human?
  • How might studying head shapes help scientists learn about human evolution?
  • Why do you think Neanderthals became extinct?
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Here are some of the main ideas students should take away from this video:

  • More than a million years ago, some early human ancestors migrated out of Africa to Europe. This group evolved into Neanderthals. The ancestors who stayed in Africa evolved into modern humans.
  • Neanderthals, colloquially known as cavemen, were first identified in Germany’s Neander Valley about 150 years ago. Many Neanderthal sites have since been discovered; findings show that Neanderthals used fire, wore clothing, and made stone tools. Neanderthals existed for more than 200,000 years, but apparently became extinct about 30,000 years ago.
  • Studying the shape of the human head can provide insight into human evolution. Modern humans are very similar to Neanderthals from the neck down; however, the modern human head is more spherical, and the Neanderthal head is more oblong (like a lemon).

To further student engagement, refer students to the supplemental worksheet and crossword puzzle related to this resource.

  • Before doing the crossword puzzle, watch the video with the captions on or direct students to the transcript so that they can see how to spell the words used in the puzzle.

    • For even more information on hominids, refer students to Hominid Paleobiology, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's lecture by Tim D. White, Ph.D.

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    open Transcript

    DAVID POGUE (New York Times Technology Columnist): Around 30,000 years ago, there were at least four different kinds of hominids coexisting on the planet, including the Neanderthals. More than a million years ago, some of our ancestors began making their way from Africa to Europe, while the rest stayed behind. Those who remained in Africa evolved into us, modern humans. The group that went to Europe eventually developed into Neanderthals.

    You know the Neanderthals, otherwise known as "cavemen." Most people think of them as being a bunch of brutes. Well, it turns out, that the more we learn about them, the closer they seem to us.

    Their bones were first identified in Germany, in the Neander Valley, thus, Neanderthals. Since that discovery, about a hundred and fifty years ago, scores of Neanderthal sites have been uncovered, from the British Isles to Western Asia. We now know that Neanderthals used fire, wore clothing and made stone tools.

    They thrived as skilled hunter/gatherers for at least 200,000 years. But then, thirty thousand years ago, they vanished. Why didn't they survive? And why aren't they living among us today?

    Daniel Lieberman, of Harvard, looks for answers in the way human heads have evolved.

    Why the head?

    DANIEL LIEBERMAN (Harvard University): Well, heads are one of the most important things about our bodies, and they're actually what makes us special, for the most part. If you were to meet a Neanderthal on, say, the subway, from the neck down you'd be basically the same. And what really makes you different from a Neanderthal is above the neck.

    DAVID POGUE: It turns out our skulls and Neanderthal skulls are pretty different. All right, so this is a mockup of a modern human?

    DANIEL LIEBERMAN: Right.

    DAVID POGUE: "Hi, Dan".

    And this is our Neanderthal guy. If we wanted to establish the differences between the two, specifically what would you point out?

    DANIEL LIEBERMAN: There are really two basic essential differences that matter. And the first is that a modern human head is much more globular. It's much more spherical, more like a soccer ball, right? It's rounded. Right? But the Neanderthal head, if you can see here, is much longer and lower. It's more like a lemon or an American football, right?

    DAVID POGUE: If our skulls are the main difference between modern humans and Neanderthals, perhaps that's the key to why Neanderthals died out and we survived.

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