Frightening new take on Neanderthals

Ive seen NO use of ANY evidence about his silly interpretation of Neanderthals appearance and non upright walking stance.

Side on, the straighter, more inflexible spine, the stooped stance and lack of defined buttocks give it an unusual gait as it strides along. It doesn’t walk like any human you’ve ever seen. All in all, this is a strange and fearsome creature indeed. And to top it off, German researchers who re-examined two Neanderthal spines (from Kebara 2 and Shanidar 3) in 2008 reported that both individuals displayed kyphosis—they were hunchbacks. This was most unexpected and, what’s more, their hunched backs weren’t the result of injury, disease or old age. The authors, Jochen Weber and Carsten Matthias Pusch believe the condition was part of their natural anatomy.

Vendramini, Danny (2011-12-26). Them and Us: How Neanderthal predation created modern humans (Kindle Locations 1366-1370). Kardoorair Press. Kindle Edition.

The lumbar spine in Neanderthals shows natural kyphosis

Jochen Weber and Carsten Matthias Pusch
Abstract
Nowadays, lumbar spondylosis is one of the most frequent causes of lower back pain. In order to improve our understanding of the lumbar spine anatomy and functionality over time, we compared the lumbar vertebrae of Neanderthals with those of anatomically modern humans. The fossil record reports on only two Neanderthal skeletons (i.e., Kebara 2 and Shanidar 3, both predating the appearance of modern humans) with full preservation of the entire lumbar spine. Examination of these early hominids showed that they display natural lumbar kyphosis, with only mild degenerative changes of the lumbar spine (ages at death: 30–35 years, Kebara 2; and 35–50 years, Shanidar 3). This finding is highly unexpected since Neanderthals are known to have had extraordinary physical activity due to demanding living conditions. The adult lumbar spines discussed here therefore show no correlation between high physical activity and degenerative spine disease as known from recent times. We speculate that both the kyphosis itself and the massive and heavily muscled skeleton of Neanderthals are causative for the minimal bone degeneration. We conclude that a kyphotic lumbar spine is the natural anatomy in these two Neanderthal individuals. Future research will reveal if this holds true for the entire Neanderthal species.

Examples:

Prehistory • One of the first complete Neanderthal skeletons discovered is that of a male with a twisted, bent spine, a wasted lower jaw, and a pronounced hunchback. Archaeologists assumed this was a typical Neanderthal skeleton, which led to the popular view of Neanderthals as hunchbacked, chinless knuckle-draggers. Recent analysis has indicated, however, that the individual in question was probably well over sixty years old and suffered from severe arthritis and bone wastage. Most skeletons found since suggest that a Neanderthal would likely look very similar to a modern human (although they wouldn't be winning any beauty contests). Well-known works based in part on the old trope include Isaac Asimov's short story
The Ugly Little Boy and numerous cartoons from Gary Larson's The Far Side. ◦ Jean Auel resurrected the arthritic old man, named him Creb, and made him a great shaman-priest and Ayla's adoptive father in Clan Of The Cave Bear.
◦ It has also been assumed that Neanderthals couldn't speak, or that their ability to articulate was very limited, because the all-important hyoid bone was not found in any of the skeletons until 1983. Writers like Auel who wanted to portray them as intelligent usually had them use a sophisticated Hand Signals language. Now, it turns out they had hyoid bones all along. ■ In fact, it's likely that the modern human's version of the FOX P2 gene came from Neanderthals.
■ Later analysis of their vocal tracts have shown that they would not be capable of human speech, however, meaning they would sound rather strange to us.

◦ The Ugly Little Boy was expanded into a novel where one of the doctors goes into a detailed lecture about the hyoid bone. The Neanderthals are portrayed as having a language with click consonants, while Timmy learns to speak English — it just sounds a little blurry.

• On a similar note, the infamous Piltdown man, despite being correctly guessed as a fake the year after its "discovery" and several times afterwards, wasn't completely discredited until four decades later. One of the main reasons being that many people of European descent, including respected scientists, simply couldn't fathom or palate that humanity's ancestor could have originated some place other than Europe or its near vicinity, much less Darkest Africa

there are but two pairs of Neanderthal remains with enough of the lower spine together to let anybody make a judgment as to straight backs

Palaeoanthropologists can also tell whether hominids walked upright from their skulls by looking at the foramen magnum – the point the spine enters the skull – and thus the natural position of the head.

In fact they say all of the hominid remains on the planet would fit in a medium sized truck

Ambam certainly stands and walks upright but you can see that he is pitched forward just a bit in walking and I'd assume the same would be true of a Neanderthal:

Interesting conjecture. I wonder if all the pieces fit. Have any of the usual scientific peer review validation points been passed?

Elaine Morgan's explanation on the other hand makes perfect sense. An aquatic mammal has little if any need for a sense of smell.