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Neanderthals were built for the winter and for the colder periods of the earth's weather. Cold temperatures would also lead to smaller group sizes. It then se

Neanderthals were built for the winter and for the colder periods of the earth's weather. Cold temperatures would also lead to smaller group sizes. It then seems likely that Neanderthal groups were picked off one by one by large groups of homo sapiens. If you have a 1:100 or even a 1:10 numbers advantage (when you opponent's group doesn't exceed ~80 people), it often doesn't matter how advanced or smart your opponent is. They're going to get flattened no matter what they do. Bloodlust combined with very large group sizes usually leads to lower individual quality but there's a limit to how many one guy could pick off. After the 15th or the 20th guy you're likely to get hit a couple of times, no matter how skilled you are. And after that you're done for, no strongman can stand even a 10-man dogpile.

ffgjgf1 3y ago
Considering how low population densities were back in those days I’m not sure violent competition was really that necessary. Even during the neolithic when farmers from the middle east started migrated into Europe they seemingly just lived side by side with the local hunter gathers for hundreds of years. As the farmer populations were growing at an extremely fast pace (for premodern times) eventually they started moving into the areas inhabited by hunter gathers but according to current evidence these societies just merged and there was no large scale genocide or something like that. Back in the Neanderthal days population growth was much slower so this process probably took much longer but it’s not inconceivable that climate change and some sort of assimilation were the primary reason why the Neanderthals went extinct instead of violent conflict.
- precompute 3y ago
  Oh, I don't mean conflict with other Neanderthals. I meant conflict with Homo Sapiens, who by all accounts seem to be much more comfortable with larger group sizes, and aren't cold-adapted. Yes, violent competition isn't conducive to low population densities (especially in an environment as unforgiving as the Neanderthals') but that doesn't mean another larger group couldn't invade. After all, changing "humanoid" group sizes (aka "Culture") would take much longer than the introduction of the Holocene.
  - ffgjgf1 3y ago
    > conflict with Homo Sapiens Yes, that was exactly what I meant (or tried to)

ffgjgf1 3y ago

Considering how low population densities were back in those days I’m not sure violent competition was really that necessary. Even during the neolithic when farmers from the middle east started migrated into Europe they seemingly just lived side by side with the local hunter gathers for hundreds of years. As the farmer populations were growing at an extremely fast pace (for premodern times) eventually they started moving into the areas inhabited by hunter gathers but according to current evidence these societies just merged and there was no large scale genocide or something like that. Back in the Neanderthal days population growth was much slower so this process probably took much longer but it’s not inconceivable that climate change and some sort of assimilation were the primary reason why the Neanderthals went extinct instead of violent conflict.

precompute 3y ago
Oh, I don't mean conflict with other Neanderthals. I meant conflict with Homo Sapiens, who by all accounts seem to be much more comfortable with larger group sizes, and aren't cold-adapted. Yes, violent competition isn't conducive to low population densities (especially in an environment as unforgiving as the Neanderthals') but that doesn't mean another larger group couldn't invade. After all, changing "humanoid" group sizes (aka "Culture") would take much longer than the introduction of the Holocene.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  > conflict with Homo Sapiens Yes, that was exactly what I meant (or tried to)