Have You Seen This Man?
By: Autumn Truax
This poster is about the discovery of Neanderthal fossils in 1856 in the German Neander Valley. Neanderthals are an extinct subspecies of humans who were located in Eurasia until around 40,000 years ago, the oldest bones dating around 430,000 years ago. Before this time, it is believed Neanderthal bones had been found but none of the fossils had actually been distinguished from those of modern humans. The year 1856 is the first time that fossils of Neanderthals had been found and actually categorized as something other than a modern human. As a fun fact, it is estimated that twenty percent of Neanderthal DNA currently survives in modern humans.
When it came to designing this project I wanted it to have the feeling of a "Wanted" poster. For each letter I wanted to tie it to either the discovery of the Neanderthal itself, which is why I have some excavation tools and various bones, including teeth, or have it tie to objects indicative of Neanderthals. Upon my research of the event I discovered Neanderthals used different features of birds, including their bones and feathers, as well as crystals as ornaments so pieces of this can be found in the letters of my poster. I also found that Neanderthals had fire so I made sure to allude to that as well. I also included rocks, fur, and sticks which are things I think people may commonly associate with Neanderthals. For this poster it was also required to include at least three of our own photos. My photos were the bone in the center of the "A" in "Man" and the three separate rocks which can be found on the left, right and bottom of the "T" in "This."
