Traders come out on top

by Gene on Apr. 11th, 2005
in Human Organism

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40,000 years ago, modern humans first set foot in Europe, only to find the continent was already populated by Neanderthals -- another type of human which was bigger, stronger, and had larger brains than modern humans. But within 11,000 years, the Neanderthals had died out, while the moderns lived on. Why?

There have been lots of suggestions -- maybe Neanderthals coudn't handle climate change; maybe modern humans could talk and share information while Neanderthals couldn't. Now, there's another idea to add to the mix:

Jason Shogren, an economist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, US, says part of the answer may lie in humans' superior trading habits. Trading would have allowed the division of labour, freeing up skilled individuals, such as hunters, to focus on the tasks they are best at. Others, perhaps making tools or clothes or gathering food, would give the hunters resources in return for meat.

Shogren goes on to suggest that a prehistoric free-trade agreement could have given our ancestors access to materials that helped them survive -- materials the non-trading Neanderthals would have lacked.

The study is based on a computer simulation. It will take more work to tie it in to actual, physical evidence. But it does seem to fit a general pattern. From cave art and burial sites, it's clear that early modern humans had a richer, more complex culture than Neanderthals. And culture -- things like language, art and ideas -- can be a tremendous advantage to survival in a hostile world.

The original article with Shogren's analysis is available on-line.

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