what neanderthals really looked like

Evolutionary detective Danny Vendramini argues in 'Them and Us' that anthropomorphism -our propensity to see Neanderthals much like ourselves- has blurred western thinking on all things Neanderthals. 

He argues that facial reconstructions on Neanderthals based on human faces are misleading, and that primates provide a better analogue for reconstructing facial characteristics of Neanderthals.

         Forensic Art (above) by Karen T. Taylor  www.karenttaylor.com



An illustration from 'Them and Us (above) reveals that the the skull of a Neanderthal (left) fits perfectly into the profile of a chimpanzee, suggesting the appearance of Neanderthals (at least in profile) more closely resembled non-human primates than a modern humans.












Another illustration from 'Them and Us' shows the human rib cage (left) compared to that of a Neanderthal (right.)


forensic reconstruction of the La Ferrassie neanderthal

 One of the world's foremost digital sculptors, Madrid based Arturo Balseiro (below) was commissioned to create a forensic reconstruction of a Neanderthal based on Vendramini's NP theory.
                        

Above left: Digital sculptor Arturo Balseiro working on the Neanderthal reconstruction. Above right: a museum quality model of the La Ferrassie Neanderthal skull being scanned by a laser in Balseiro's Madrid studio.


new forensic reconstructions based on np theory

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If you're disturbed by these images, there're a good reason for it. Like other prey species,
humans have an innate capacity to recognize our natural predator. What Neanderthals
'felt' like is hardwired into our genes. Neanderthal predation was so traumatic that
even 28,000 years after the last Neanderthal disappeared, they can still push our buttons.







download free chapter

  Chapter 8  - THE CREATURE REVEALED
You can download the chapter of Them+Us that deals with what Neanderthals really looked like. It's free.

The chapter includes 27 colour illustrations, including pictures of the forensic reconstruction of a Neanderthal created by world renown digital sculptor, Arturo Balseiro exclusively for THEM+US.ORG





Check out  Danny Vendramini's 15 minute video on YouTube:

 'Neanderthal: Profile of a super-predator'

It's his take on what Neanderthals really looked like.




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