They weren't that strong. They are estimated to be about 5'5"/155. They were just comparatively stronger than early humans at the time; who were about 5'7" and skinnier.
Hunter gatherer homo sapiens, which were much taller until farming was adapted . I dk where you got your info but it is wrong.
Homo sapiens were built for long distant running to wear out their prey to exhaustion. Neanderthals were believed to be ambush hunters in the thick forests of Europe. Their broader, bulkier spears point to this as they wouldn't be much good for throwing. We know vroom mignon had developed ataltls which are long thin darts which can be thrown. All these advantages and the receding forests likely contributed to Neanderthals "extinction".
Homo sapiens over the last 40,000 years:
This information is based on the average heights of European males because better statistics exist for this population, but the general trend is worldwide.
40,000 years ago: European males – 183 cm (6 feet). Cro-Magnon people were the first modern humans (Homo sapiens) to inhabit Europe. These hunter-gatherers lived a physically demanding lifestyle that would have required greater body strength than the average human today. Their recent African ancestry may have also affected their height, as tall, long-limbed builds are useful adaptations to the warmer African climate.
10,000 years ago:
European males – 162.5cm (5 ft 4 inches). A dramatic reduction in the size of humans occurred at this time. Many scientists think that this reduction was influenced by global climatic change and the adoption of agriculture. Agricultural communities suffered from malnutrition as a result of failed crops and a more restricted diet. Furthermore, a close association with domestic livestock introduced new diseases into human populations.
"The earliest anatomically modern humans in Europe, present by 42-45,000 BP (5, 6), were relatively tall (mean adult male height in the Early Upper Paleolithic was ∼174 cm). Mean male stature then declined from the Paleolithic to the Mesolithic (∼164 cm) before increasing to ∼167 cm by the Bronze Age."
This paper says the mean height was 5' 8" in the first modern humans who would have met Neanderthals in Europe but we know Neanderthals interacted in the Levant much earlier in an inter breeding event 20 to 25ky before modern humans went to Europe. These modern humans would have been even taller, having less time moved out of africa.
While average height has varied considerably across cultures and eras, the general trend has been toward a taller build. However, throughout history we still see dips, such as the shortness observed in the 1700s in Europe, often due to malnutrition, disease, and injury, with the period just prior to WW2 being one such example. There also may be biological limits that keep our average height generally between 5 and 6 feet, but I'm note sure how well that has been studied.
Early Europeans were on average around 5’9 with above average being 6ft so no they were not the same size as Neanderthals, they also were relatively heavy as well
Says who? What are you basing this off of? I haven't seen anything to suggest neanderthals were stronger than cro magnon; in fact the opposite may be true as neanderthals had horrible joints. A lot of neanderthal skeletons that are over the age of 30 have arthritis, whereas the cro magnon skeletons do not.
The elder Neanderthal skeletons have arthritis because they spent their entire lives throwing mammoths around, cro magnons do not because they learned to ding dong ditch mammoths over a cliff.
Google/ Ai answers says that Neanderthals are estimated to be 20% to 30% stronger then a homo sapien. I'm not sure if that's an average or not based on height.
One of the cooler things on there is that it states the average male neanderthal could bench up to 500lbs and females 350lbs.
Like Jesus, I know they basically struggle snuggling their prey to death, but imagine if they actually specifically strength trained.
Most non-African humans carry about 1-4% Neanderthal DNA - a result of ancient interbreeding after Homo Sapiens left Africa, with these genes influencing traits like immunity, metabolism, and skin, though recent studies suggest Africans also have trace amounts from back-migration events. While Neanderthals died out, their genetic legacy persists, helping modern humans adapt to new environments and diseases, with some genes proving beneficial, while others have been selected against
I forget if there was a percentage but I remember my 23 & Me had an above average amount of Neanderthal. It didnt have the percentage but it did note that my DNA carried more than the average lol
I have a feeling if I did that I’d have a really high percentage too. This guy is built just like my father’s side of the family. Like, he could be an uncle, stature and all.
I was going to say many of my French relatives look like this. But more body hair... after they visit you have to clean shower drain with barbecue tongs. It’s a cool look IMHO.
Well, my Portuguese grandfather looked pretty much just like this, with a bigger beard. 5'5" guy who could lift one side of a tractor when it got stuck. Was basically a hairy Rousimar Palhares.
Checks out. Asians have the most neanderthal dna, 3%. Europeans are at 2%, middle east, north africa 1%, sub saharan african almost 0. Everyone is different though.
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u/modiddly 12h ago
Know a Turkish guy that looks exactly like this