Evening star., 1953-07-01
NeunderthuIer's Blood
Persists in Man Toduy
Stone-Aee Cuvemun Shows
Variability in Skull Size
By Thomos R. Henry

The blood Of Neanderthal man, the
beetle-browed, stopped, club-wielding
caveman who ranged over much of the
Old World between IS 900 and 100. 900
years ago. probably persists in modern
man.
This Is the conclusion of DR.. Cornelius
j. Connolly, professor of physical an
thropology at the Catholic University
of America, after an intensive study of
the brain morphology of the simian
family tree from the batlike little ave-
aye of Madagascar to the most ad.
vanced type of living men.
1t sometimes has been maintained
that Neanderthal man represented an
entirely pre-human type of creature.
manllke IN form and with glimmerings
OF human intelligence, which became
extinct during the great ice ages and
was succeeded-at least in Europe-by
an entirely different type, the ancestors
OF modern man.
AnthropologiSts now are more and
more inclined to accept, DR.. Connolly
says, the view that the Neanderthalers
represented a phase in the evolution
OF man, rather than a distinct species
tnat disappeared from the EARTH"
Skull Size Varies.
"One important fact established in
recent years" he reports in Catholic
University's Anthropological Quarterly.
lis that the Neanderthal group shows
great variability in the size and other
morphologlcal features of the skull. The
skulls range from those with primitive
characters to those with progressive
features approaching those of the mod
ern type of skull.
The special distribution of modern
man was such that it is difficult to
believe he could have become extinct.
The early appearing type exhibits Mean
throplc approaching modern) features
in the skull. 1t is a generalized type
compared to the later and extreme or
specialized type. While there are good
reasons for believing that the general
lied type OF Neanderthal man did not
become extinct, it is quite possible that
the specialized, or extreme type (such
as would be represented by the skulls
found in Europe). did not survive.
" The modern type of man, now char
acterized by certain morphological fea-
lures of the skull compared to those OF
early man, is referred to as Homo
sapienS. This specific name was estab-
llShed by Linnaeus as the proper SCI
entific one for the human species. The
application of the term mon -sapiens"
(that is mindless) to such types as the
Neanderthal or to any other type of
man seems incongruous. It implies a
psychic character of which no account
is otherwise taken"
Based on Long Study.
Skull casts give a fairly consistent
picture of evolution upward from pre-.
monkeys, Dr. Connolly says. His con-
cluSions are based largely on intensive
study for years of material mostly
preserved in the collections of the
Smithsonian Institution.
From these studies he throws out of
the homo family, the lately discovered
Observation-Disclosures or African ape men.
There is no evidence from the skulls.
with their indications of the brains they
lncloSed, that they ever bridged the
gap. Undoubtedly, he admits, some of
them walked upright, and this has
been considered strikingly human
feature. Actually, DR.. Connolly points
out, both gorillas and chimpanzees walk
upright at times.
The race was quite definitely on its
way upward with Peking man, who
lived perhaps million years ago. In
some ways he was quite close to the
extremely primitive Java man, Pithe-
canthropus erectus, generally recog-
nized as at the foot of the human
family.
The position of Pithecanthropus may
be debatable, DR.. Connolly admits, but
there hardly can be much dispute as
to the right Of the Peking man to in
clusion in the human family. Skulls
show wide variation in the size Of
the brains. some of them reaching
nearly the lowest capacities found in
the human brain today. Besides, there
is evidence that this creature made
stone tools and had some knowledge
of the use of fire.