December 12, 2018
Nobabies.net
Judith Beier
Paleoanthropology
Senckenberg Centre for Human evolution and Paleoenvironment
University of Tübingen
Tübingen
Germany
Dear Judith Beier,
I am thrilled with your article (“Similar Cranial Trauma Prevalence among Neaderthals and Upper Paleolithic Modern Humans,” J. Beier, N. Anthes, J. Wahl and K. Harvati, Nature vol. 563 November 29, 2018, no. 7733 page 685). Had you asked me previously, I’d have said that my understanding was that in the Balkins there was a civilization contemporary with Sumer with planned cities of 100,000 and no sign of warfare; you could not tell a difference in culture from one city to the next. Then rather abruptly people were living in little hilltop forts and cultures were emerging, some traced to the present day. The Minoan civilization seemed to be peaceful and was supplanted by the Mycenean Greeks, who were … well Goliath was one. When people pointed out violence among contemporary hunter gatherers I would think, “Contact with civilizations. There was a time before violence.” Now I know better.
When I look at your numbers it seems to me that a Neanderthal man and his contemporary sapiens man had a better than even chance of getting a skull fracture at some time in his life. Please let me know if I’m wrong; I’m likely to cite you as a reference.
Meanwhile the question arises as to why. It is had to believe that two different species had the same rate of skull fractures from hunting and other accidents; they had to be hitting each other over the head. This, of course, raises the question as to why such an expensive behavior as produced by natural selection. The answer is actually quite clear. Any population must limit its size or go extinct. This is laid out in the enclosed DVD, why it had to happen, the fact that it happens in humans and what the biochemical mechanism is. That’s under the heading Grand Summary Fertility. If you would like any clarification or I can help in any way, please call on me.
This is so basic and so important there has to be fame and fortune in it for somebody. I have not interest in that, just an interest in making the world a better place and maybe saving us all from extinction. So the fame might just as well go to you, if you care to claim it.
Best,
Linton Herbert