"an unsavory amalgamation"

nortonew · Post by **nortonew** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:13 pm

I've just read a story by Robert E. Howard called "The Black Stone". In that story appears the following:

"...had mixed and intermarried with a degraded aboriginal race until the breeds had blended, producing an unsavory amalgamation. Who these aborigines were, he had not the slightest idea, but maintained that they were "pagans" and had dwelt in the mountains since time immemorial, before the coming of the conquering peoples."

When I read that portion, I got the mental image of the degraded race actually being an ancient mixture of humans and Neanderthals.

Interestingly enough on the same evening I happened to, almost immediately thereafter, read a news article that states that man's early ancestors may have intermingled with Neanderthals....
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061030/ ... 030-3.html

Peculiarly enough, Howard's story is set in Hungary while the bones mentioned in the news-story were found in nearby Romania. I couldn't help but be struck by the temporal juxtaposition I had experienced in regards to the story and the news report.

Curiouser and curiouser...

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:20 am

i read somewhere that neanderthals had an extra chromosome which would have made breeding with homo sapiens unlikely.

'the black stone' is a pretty cool story.. it has something in common with 'chaparral heights,' but i don't want to give it away yet

decadence · Post by **decadence** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:32 am

Whoah..

Pinonomicon · Post by **Pinonomicon** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 4:45 am

Most scientists think that if human and neanrathal had offspring, it would have been sterile, like a mule.

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:46 am

if more people were sterile, the world could be a better place

decadence · Post by **decadence** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:24 pm

JJ Burke wrote:if more people were sterile, the world could be a better place

If more people were sterile at the beginning of time, that is.

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 2:30 pm

Im taking anthropology right now and it says that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals were too diffrent to creat offspring...this is renforced by the fact that they haven't found an intact fossil specimen that has a mix of Neanderthal and Homo Sapien features.

nortonew · Post by **nortonew** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 7:42 pm

Eternities End wrote:Im taking anthropology right now and it says that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals were too diffrent to creat offspring...this is renforced by the fact that they haven't found an intact fossil specimen that has a mix of Neanderthal and Homo Sapien features.

Actually, the news story I posted the URL of,
( http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061030/ ... 030-3.html ),
states that the anthropologists believe they have found several skulls that seem to be a mix of the two races.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:19 pm

JJ Burke wrote:i read somewhere that neanderthals had an extra chromosome which would have made breeding with homo sapiens unlikely.

People with Down's Syndrome have an extra chromosome and they can concieve, even with people without the Syndrome.

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 6:04 pm

down's syndrome happens when one of the normal human chromosomes malfunctions.. but the neanderthal design included one more than ours as the norm.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:18 pm

Yeah, as the norm, but that means your average Neanderthal had the same amount as a person with Down's Syndrome. I guess it's what's on the extra chromosome that counts.

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:48 pm

you're focusing on the number, but what i'm saying is 1 of them (in down's syndrome) is a sort of botched replica of a healthy chromosome. it's not by design, and isn't meant to work that way.. whereas the neanderthal's set of chromosomes, i'm assuming, was not the product of a syndrome.

so you're comparing healthy neanderthals with afflicted humans.. i don't know how much bearing this has on whether neanderthals could procreate with sapiens.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:20 pm

Unless the tendancy for the malfunction comes from a Homo Sapiens/ Neanderthal hybrid!

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:28 pm

or maybe it's something shared across other species in the genus homo, or maybe it's none of the above.. maybe second-hand smoke causes it. maybe maybe maybe

candy is dandy but liquor is quicker

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:46 pm

That it is...