Several times in the past 10 years scientists have had to rewrite the textbooks on Neanderthals, the latest species of human to go extinct. Once the archetype for primitive, uncivilised behaviour, the species, illuminated through fossil excavations and lately analysis of their genome, has emerged as being not too dissimilar from our own.
Contrary to their dim-witted image Neanderthals have been found to have used tools, to have worn jewellery, and, lastly, to have interbred with our Homo sapiens ancestors to such an extent that 4% of every modern European’s genome is traceable to Neanderthal origins.
via Neanderthals may have been first human species to create cave paintings | Science | The Guardian.
I mean, they moped around, left art work… you know…
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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So, I can’t help but think there is a basis for certain things in the bible. Floods, ancient ice age melts? Neanderthals, especially so called “transitional” Neanderthals, found in Israel, that could have coexisted with modern humans 40-100,000 years ago. Especially since that area was a natural transit point between Africa (for the moderns) and Europe (for the Neanderthals). And the mixing, perhaps Gen 6:4. Maybe Nephilim is not giant, but pretty robust dude – don’t mess with him, if he wants your daughter. Our 4%