| Author |
Message
|
| portcontrol7 |
 Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject: Two Questions regarding Clovis Flints and Neanderthal |
 |
|
Forum Freshman
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Posts: 45
|
Pardon me if this is the wrong forum, I couldn't find an anthropology forum here. A couple basic questions.
I understand that Clovis flints were often made of Obsidian rock, what I don't understand is how they made the flutes. What tools did they use for this, did they just grind a coarse stone repeatedly to etch the groove?
On Neanderthal, I think I understand that their genome has been mapped and that we have none of their genes within us. Is this the case?
Thanks in advance.
_________________
"The most monstrous effect of the indoctrination of the young by religion, is not that they are mislead, but are trained to mislead themselves." - Me |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| Harold14370 |
| Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Professor
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1579
Location: Pennsylvania
|
This site shows the steps involved in flintknapping. The flutes result from the way the flakes are chipped off the stone.
http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/prehistoricalabama/flintknapping.htm
It is not true that we have none of the Neanderthal genes. We are approximately 99.5 % identical. They haven't found any evidence of interbreeding, though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| portcontrol7 |
| Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Freshman
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Posts: 45
|
Thanks Harold, great link. I phrased my Neanderthal question poorly. From the mapping of the Neanderthal Genome we would only see how similar our genome is, correct? We would need individual DNA samples to confirm interbreeding, is this accurate?
_________________
"The most monstrous effect of the indoctrination of the young by religion, is not that they are mislead, but are trained to mislead themselves." - Me |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| paralith |
| Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 06 Jun 2007
Posts: 1041
Location: Washington, DC
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal
Go to the genome section.
Long story short, it is still contested, and yes data from more individuals would be very helpful, but hypotheses can still be made based on one individual. Most studies have been done with mtDNA, but the best way to determine if interbreeding occurred is to find polymorphic alleles that are specific to one species and not the other, and look for evidence of some of those alleles spreading into the other population. I actually did some work on a study of interbreeding howler monkeys using this technique.
_________________
Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count on no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth.
~Jean-Paul Sartre
Monkeys in Clothes - hosted by SFN blogs |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| CShark |
| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Sophomore
Joined: 08 May 2008
Posts: 169
Location: East Coast of Canada
|
| paralith wrote: |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal
Go to the genome section.
Long story short, it is still contested, and yes data from more individuals would be very helpful, but hypotheses can still be made based on one individual. Most studies have been done with mtDNA, but the best way to determine if interbreeding occurred is to find polymorphic alleles that are specific to one species and not the other, and look for evidence of some of those alleles spreading into the other population. I actually did some work on a study of interbreeding howler monkeys using this technique. |
Regarding interbreeding, I believe I recently read somewhere of a possible 'missing-link' find: part neandertal, part homosapien... try this link : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070802-neanderthals.html
Most articles mention strictly the genetic work being undertaken for this project. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
