page_title: Neanderthal
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Neanderthal / Taxonomy / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Fluchtstangen markieren den Nachgrabungs- und Fundbereich von 1997/2000 im Neandertal (Areal der Fundstelle des Fossils Neanderthal 1 1856) in der Nähe des Neanderthal-Museums; Bereich in Erkrath im Landschaftsschutzgebiet „Täler von Düssel und Mettmanner Bach“ (LSG 4707-0011) English: This is the area where the Neanderthal type specimen (though Neanderthal 1 was not the first find) was excavated by quarry workers in 1856. It is located east of Erkrath, Germany, and is maintained by the nearby Neanderthal Museum. The ranging rods are part of an "archaeological garden" and mark the 1997/2000 excavation site, where debris from the "Kleine Feldhofer Grotte" (original place of discovery, 1856) and additional fossil parts were found. The "Kleine Feldhofer Grotte" was a cave a few metres above in a limestone cliff, which was destroyed by quarrying in the 19th century. (So the exact location of the 1856 site is now "in the air"; no rocks left there.)
context_page_description: Neanderthals are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. They probably went extinct due to competition with or extermination by immigrating European early modern humans or due to great climatic change, disease, or a combination of these factors.
  It is unclear when Neanderthals split from modern humans; studies have produced various intervals ranging from 315,000 to more than 800,000 years ago. The time of divergence of Neanderthals from their ancestor H. heidelbergensis is also unclear. The oldest potential Neanderthal bones are dated to 430,000 years ago, but the classification is uncertain. Neanderthals are known from numerous fossils, especially from after 130,000 years ago. The type specimen, Neanderthal 1, was found in 1856 in the German Neander Valley. After much debate over their validity, Neanderthals were depicted as being primitive, stupid, and brutish for much of the early 20th century. Though knowledge and perception of them has markedly changed since then in the scientific community, the image of the unevolved caveman archetype remains prevalent in popular culture.
context_section_description: Neanderthals are named after the valley, the Neandertal, in which the first identified specimen was found. The valley was spelled Neanderthal and the species was spelled Neanderthaler in German until the spelling reform of 1901. The spelling Neandertal for the species is occasionally seen in English, even in scientific publications, but the scientific name, H. neanderthalensis, is always spelled with th according to the principle of priority. The vernacular name of the species in German is always Neandertaler ("inhabitant of the Neander Valley"), whereas Neandertal always refers to the valley. The valley itself was named after the late 17th century German theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander who often visited the area. Neanderthal can be pronounced using the /t/ (as in /niˈændərtɑːl/) or the standard English pronunciation of th with the fricative /θ/ (as /niˈændərθɔːl/).
  Neanderthal 1, the type specimen, was known as the "Neanderthal cranium" or "Neanderthal skull" in anthropological literature, and the individual reconstructed on the basis of the skull was occasionally called "the Neanderthal man". The binomial name Homo neanderthalensis—extending the name "Neanderthal man" from the individual specimen to the entire species, and formally recognizing it as distinct from humans—was first proposed by Irish geologist William King in a paper read to the 33rd British Science Association in 1863. However, in 1864, he recommended that Neanderthals and modern humans be classified in different genera as he compared the Neanderthal braincase to that of a chimpanzee and argued that they were "incapable of moral and [theistic] conceptions".
caption: What remains of Kleine Feldhofer Grotte where Neanderthal 1 was discovered[a]
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