Lecture to tell modern theory of Neanderthals

The spring series of the Sunday Science Series at the Midwest Museum of Natural History in Sycamore will begin on Sunday with a discussion of cave people.

Neanderthals were early humans who emerged in Europe between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. Originally they were often considered almost ape-like, but today we recognize that they were highly intelligent, accomplished people who developed a number of distinctive adaptations to the demands of life in Ice Age Europe.

Professor Fred H. Smith of Loyola University in Chicago will discuss these biological and cultural features, as well as the amazing information being derived from the study of Neanderthal genetic material. The disappearance of Neanderthals by 30,000 years ago and the question of whether Neanderthals had any role in the ancestry of modern people in Europe will also be presented.

Smith is professor of anthropology and biology, and head of the Anthropology Department at Loyola. He is an internationally known expert on Neanderthals and has analyzed the fossil remains of Neanderthals and early modern humans throughout Europe. In 2006, he was selected to present the inaugural Hermann Schaafhausen Lecture in Germany to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Neanderthal discovery. This presentation is an English version of that lecture.

Smith serves on the Midwest Museum of Natural History board of directors and is currently the president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

"The Neanderthals: Understanding the Quintessential Cave People" will begin at 3 p.m. It is included in museum admission.

The Midwest Museum of Natural History, 425 W. State St. in downtown Sycamore, is open 7 days a week. For more information, call (815) 895-9777 or visit www.mmnh.org.