Imagine a time long ago when giant creatures like wooly mammoths and saber tooth tigers roamed the Earth. Now imagine that you must survive in this frigid age with these enormous beasts. Join us as we take a trip back in time with these magical hominids, Neanderthals.

 Neanderthals were short and stocky with large muscles. They had receding chins, larger cheeks, and very prominent brow ridges that stuck out from the face. Neanderthals were also quite hairy, perhaps even furry. (1)

 Neanderthals ate fish, berries, nuts, deer, mammoth, and buffalo. (2)  The women and children found nuts and berries on the ground and also on bushes. The men hunted using spears and knives to kill the animals. (3)

 The Neanderthals were gatherers and hunters, and this is how they spent most of their time.  The Neanderthals divided the work equally between men and women. The women gathered and the men hunted. (4)

 Neanderthals used hammer stones to make axes.  They used spears to kill deer and buffalo.  They used knives to cut meat and animals.  All of the tools were crafted from stone, sharpened by chipping away with their hammer stones. (5)

 Neanderthals didn’t speak like we do today.  They spoke like little kids blabbering, although their grunts and gestures communicated something understandable to them. (6) Neanderthal language : uh e ah gruh huhh whaa duhpff plluttth nnugg kluahh

 Neanderthals were the first people to figure out how to make fire. They made fire by striking two fire stones of flint together.  They used fire to stay warm, to cook food, and to heat materials to attach them to sticks for tools. They also used fire for light.(7)

 Neanderthals made clothing from mammoth hide.  They used clothing to keep warm during the Ice Age.(8)

 Neanderthals formed shelters by using mammoth tusks and rib bones for the shape of the structure and for strength.  The mammoth hides were then thrown on the top of the frame to protect the Neanderthals from harsh weather.  Neanderthals also lived in caves.(9)

 Neanderthals lived 200,000 years ago in Europe, and they died out about 30,000 years ago.(10)  Neanderthals were Ice Age people who may have died out because they couldn’t adapt when temperatures grew warmer. It is also possible that the Cro-Magnons could have waged war against the Neanderthals, eventually exterminating them. Nobody really knows for sure why the Neanderthals became extinct.

 Neanderthals’ religion began about 50,000 years ago.  Neanderthals were the first people to bury their dead. They also might have painted the bodies of the dead because red pigment was found on bones at burial sites. Flower pollen was also found there, so Neanderthals might have buried their dead with flowers.(11)

1. Did the Neanderthals have fire, and if so, how did they create it? 2. What types of meat did Neanderthals eat? 3. What is one theory to explain why the Neanderthals became extinct?

1. The Neanderthals had fire, which they created by striking two fire stones of flint together. 2. They ate deer, buffalo, mammoth, and fish. 3. Neanderthals were Ice Age people who may have died out because they couldn’t adapt when temperatures grew warmer. It is also possible that the Cro-Magnons could have waged war against the Neanderthals, eventually exterminating them.

We have traveled back in time to the ordinary present, where there are no magical Neanderthals alive. Now you can see how hard it would have been to be a Neanderthal. If we had been Neanderthals and ever saw a Saber Tooth Tiger, Wooly Mammoth, or any other colossal mammal alive, we would probably have died of fright.

1. Early Humans packet, Neanderthal, p Facchini, Fiorenzo, A Day with Neanderthal Man, (Connecticut: 21 st Century Books, 2003), pp Ibid. 4. Ibid, p Hynes, Margaret, Early People, (Massachussetts: Kingfisher, 2003), pp Early Humans Packet, Neanderthal,p.2 9. Ibid, p Ibid

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Early Humans packet, Neanderthal, Facchini, Fiorenzo. A Day with Neanderthal Man. Connecticut: 21 st Century Books, Hynes, Margaret. Early People. Massachussetts: Kingfisher, 2003.