Could the Neanderthals Tie Flies?

[Skepti Que]

Here are four similar aticles with referrence to the manual dexterity of Neanderthal Man. Even if they had the dexterity to tie flies it does not mean that they did not catch their trout with their bare hands.
There is also a nice portrait of an anonymous Neanderthal hunter in the first article.
Anyway interesting reading.
SQ

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2884801.stm
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993555
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030324/030324-6.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/890948.asp

[Dr. John Nay]

Neanderthal man was first discovered in the Neander Valley close to Dusseldorf, Germany in 1856. Note that this discovery predates Darwin's? book, On the Origin of Species, which was published in 1859. The discovery consisted of the cap portion of a skull, two femurs (thigh bones), and two humeri (shoulder bones). Initially, it was determined that Neanderthal was fully human. After Darwin?s book a mad search began for ?proof? of Darwin?s theories, in particular our ape-like ancestors (missing links). Neanderthal was re-examined and it was determined by some that he was one of the ?missing links? between ape and man. Even at this time not all agreed with this reassessment conclusion. Some argued that Neanderthal was a human who had suffered from rickets or arthritis. For those searching for support for Darwin?s theories this was ?proof? of man descending from ape. Museums around the world crafted depiction's of Neanderthals in their cave habitat, along with their families and cave furnishing. These representations appeared authentic and were presented as fact (just as most anything given as a proof of evolution is today).

Since that time, mid to late 19th century, over 300 Neanderthals have be discovered throughout Germany and several other countries. These other discoveries support those that argue that the original discovery was of a ?human? that had suffered from rickets or arthritis. Today most anthropologists classify Neanderthals as Homo sapiens (humans).

Relative to tying flies, Nature Magazine, March 27, 2003, has an article, ?Digital analysis: manual dexterity in Neanderthals. A three-dimensional computer simulation of Neanderthal?s thumb and forefinger indicates that his grip would be a ?precision grip?, i.e. fully human. This article claims that Neanderthal thumbs were probably more mobile than that of modern humans. This makes me feel a little better, as I do not do a very good job of tying flies, but what can one expect from a person with inferior thumbs.