“ | Here lives another species of human, the Neanderthals. Rebecca, welcome to the original school of hard knocks, a place not for thinking but for doing. | „ |
— Allen Johnson, about Neanderthal in Mammoth's Undertaking Journey |
Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis or H. sapiens neanderthalensis), also called Neandertal, commonly known as Cavemen is a genus of archaic human that lived in Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene. They were one of the successful human species that walked the earth due to their stocky built bodies and larger brains.
In the Series 3 finale "Mammoth's Undertaking Journey", Neanderthals are one of the human species Allen and the group encounter during their rescue mission. While traveling in Late Pleistocene Europe 50,000 years ago, three Neanderthals were seen hunting a herd of Woolly Mammoths, however they didn't notice the team's presents. Later while traveling through Siberia 150,000 years, a male Neanderthal named Turok was gathering firewood until he got injured by a male Woolly Rhinoceros after charging into him. After getting capturing the rhino, Rebecca heals Turok much to Allen's reluctants and formed a friendship with her. Turok and his tribe followed the team through the portal.
They became to learn about life in the 21st century and formed a friendship with a Cro-Magnon tribe that also followed the team to the present despite a rough start. The tribe resides on the park's outskirts in a cave near the Cro-Magnon tribe's campsite.
In the same episode shortly before the Cro-Magnon tribe followed the team through the portal while traveling Siberia 40,000 years ago, a group of Neanderthals attacked the team with muscular member of the group grabbing Rebecca by her neck and lifted her off the ground.
Facts[]
Era & Discovery[]
Neanderthal lived in Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene period from 300 to 40,000 years ago. They shared the landscape with other hominids like Cro-Magnons and other Ice Age animals such as Megaloceros, Woolly Rhinoceros, Cave Lions, Cave Hyenas, Arctotherium, Cave Bears, Elasmotherium, and even the mighty Woolly Mammoths. They were one of the most successful species in human history, but gradually they were squeezed and we were left as the only species to two legged ape on Earth. Additonally Neanderthals were no match for Cro-Magnon's imaginative thinking when they came into Europe, when we began to spread across the world.
The first record of Neanderthal originates in 1856, when the top of a skull, two femurs, and arm bones were found in the Neander Valley in Germany, by limestone quarry miners who gave them to school teacher Johann Carl Fuhlrott. Since the discovery scientists first believed Neanderthals were savage cave-dwelling brutes wielding a club which to them being called Cavemen and became one of the most famous prehistoric animals and the first Prehistoric humans to be discovered. Recent studies found that Neanderthals had a larger brain than modern humans and the ability of speech.
Physical Attributes[]
Neanderthal was a species of human who stood 5.5 feet (1.65 m) tall, and weighed about 64.9 kilograms (143 Ibs.), making them quite a bit shorter than us

Neanderthal skeleton
Neanderthals had evolved a trait characteristic of all animals that lived in their environment, and short limbs and extremities that helped keep valuable heat in their bodies. They also had another adaptation that helped them survive in their cold environment and came into it's own when Neanderthals were hard at work and that was their noses which were broad and bigger than ours and scientists think that they were designed not to help keep Neanderthals warm, but to cool them down. In the environment they lived in that might have seemed odd, but the last thing that a Neanderthal wanted to do was overheat and sweat because sweat would have simply freezed. Their brains were also larger than ours, which made Neanderthals an intelligent species despite their physical appearance which may as well been ugly.
Rather than migrate south during the winter, Neanderthals stayed within the same valleys all year long, weathering out the worse of the winter in shallow caves they lived in. It was forchante for them as they were stronger and more heavily built than other humans, that meant that Neanderthals were capable of shrugging off incredible extremes, things that we would have found unbearable. Additionally, one individual was so strong he grasped Rebecca Slatter by her neck and singlehandedly lifted her off her feet while strangling her.
An X-ray of Neanderthal bones would have revealed a catalogue of fractures from head to toe, much like the body of a rodoe rider. It was not just their bodies that made these humans so tough. The changing weather also had changed Neanderthal's mind.
For Neanderthals, animals migrating north were one of the most important times of a year and risked life and limb to hunt them. To take on big animals like Mammoths and Elasmotherium, they needed every advantage could get. Sometimes they waited until dusk when cliffs would become less visible to animals and could make effective use of Neanderthal's secret weapon: fire. Other times, they would narrow up to a steep ravine which was the perfect place for ambushing big animals that pass through. Unlike Cro-Magnons who attack an animal with spears that could be thrown, Neanderthals used their spears to kill animals at close quarters by thrusting into the bodies and were unless for throwing.
Behavior & Traits[]

Neanderthals often lived in small tribes and there was a lot about the way they were that is just like us such as their preasure at being reunited with members of their family, their contentment at being warm and well fed, perhaps even their amusement at someone's misfortune.
The way of life Neanderthals had during the Ice Age, made these hominids unimaginably tough. Also whilst they could plan an ambush or anticipate the birth of a new baby, flights of fancy, imaginative thinking that we do were simply beyond this human species and wouldn't have understood it.
Prehistoric Earth: A Natural History[]
Series 3[]
Neanderthals debut in the Series 3 finale Mammoth's Undertaking Journey, where three of them hunting for food for their tribe were spotted by the team while exploring the wilderness of Ice Age 50,000 years ago. Later while traveling through Siberia 150,000 years ago after rescuing an Elasmotherium, the team encountered a male Neanderthal named Turok collecting firewood for his tribe until he was attacked and injured by a Woolly Rhinoceros. Rebecca nurse Turok whom formed a bond with her and returned him to his tribe, however as they were returning to the park with the Woolly Rhinoceros, Turok and his tribe followed the team back to the park much to their surprise. Later the team heads to Siberia 40,000 years ago during a time when Neanderthals were going extinct, where they were attacked by a group of them with one strong individual grabbing Rebecca throat and lifting her off the ground.
Series 4[]
Journal Entry[]
“ | One of the most successful human species to walk the Earth, Neanderthals thrived in Europe after evolving from Homo Heidelbergensis 300,000 years ago during the Ice Age. They were much shorter than other humans, rarely over 5.5 feet in height. Like other Ice Age animals, Neanderthals had noses that were broad and bigger than modern humans', and scientists think that they were designed not to help them warm, but to cool them down. In an Ice Age environment that might have seemed odd, but the last thing a Neanderthal wanted to do was overheat and sweat because sweat would have simply froze. Rather than migrate they stayed within the same valleys all year long weathering out the worst of the winter in shallow caves.
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— Allen Johnson, in his journal about Neanderthal |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Neanderthals are the first archaic humans to live in the park.