6/24/2020: What if two hominin species met?

    I struggled with how to answer this question for a little bit: Should I think about how primates react to other primates? How humans react to different humans? 

    I think the obvious answer is that we simply don't know and won't know until there is some sort of evidence or science invented to determine behavior in skeletal remains.

    I also think that it's important that Neanderthals are not compared to humans or primates based on anything behavioral, because honestly, we don't know. Sure, skeletally, humans, primates, and Neanderthals are similar, and is it probable that behaviorally they reacted to situations similarly. However, Neanderthals are Neanderthals. 

But, let's focus on what we do know.

    We know that there is DNA from Homo neanderthalensis, commonly known as Neanderthals, found in most European human's DNA. About 2%. That is pretty significant. I take that as Neanderthals and humans were friendly enough to mate and reproduce, and those offspring were well-cared for enough to live, prosper, and reproduce themselves. Those offspring were not treated badly or outcasted for being a hybrid, and the fact that Neanderthals and humans were even close enough to mate is remarkable. Neanderthals and early humans were possibly sociable enough to recognize each other, and if not, were able to recognize they were not each other's enemies. They reproduced, which is what I would like to emphasize here. 

    Sex is a pretty vulnerable act: you are literally naked and in each other's arms. There is a significant amount of trust in sex, enough that you think the other was not going to maim or kill you. With this, I think both early humans and Neanderthals were friendly, courtial, even. 

    I couldn't help but think how I would react to seeing another human-like species, let's say a Neanderthal. It's hard to think about since I've been studying them closely for the past few weeks, but I think prior to this course, I would have been scared to approach. Now, I am a self-proclaimed "animal person" (I'm writing this right before heading out to work on a friend's farm), but I, like many people, initially learned that Neanderthals were primitive, were brutish, were wild. Now that I am learning the opposite, I would like to think I would approach carefully, but with an olive branch.