Years ago that was put between the sidewalk slabs for some reason. I remember in the heat of summer the tar getting soft and even producing bubbles...which sometimes contained water. I guess groundwater? As dopey kids we sometimes chewed it for a minute or two. It did not take much to amuse us.
posted by Czjewel at 9:36 AM on November 23 [1 favorite]

How did we beat these guys again? They had tools, social structures, deadly fiery goo...
posted by mittens at 10:48 AM on November 23 [1 favorite]

How did we beat these guys again? They had tools, social structures, deadly fiery goo...

One hypothesis is that humans had less body hair therefore developed clothing, giving them an advantage in movement in cold climates, while the Neanderthals couldn't beat the weather and stayed close to their caves perhaps. Humans no doubt borrowed their recipe for primitive duct tape, but Neanderthals had body hair issues with animal skin clothing and resident lice.
posted by Brian B. at 11:51 AM on November 23 [1 favorite]

> "For many years, the only evidence of human-Neanderthal hybridization existed within modern human genes. However, in 2016 researchers published a new set of Neanderthal DNA sequences from Altai Cave in Siberia [oxford], as well as from Spain and Croatia, that show evidence of human-Neanderthal interbreeding as far back as 100,000 years ago" [smithsonian]
posted by HearHere at 12:19 PM on November 23

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