Remains of over a hundred Neanderthal individuals have been recovered, and they exibit a great variety of individual characteristics. The skull at left, dated 35,000 to 53,000 years ago, shows a distinctive pattern of wear on the teeth, suggesting that this individual wore down his teeth in an continuous, strenuous activity such as processing hides by chewing in order to make them pliable enough for clothing. If so, this would be the earliest indirect evidence for clothing.
The tools at top right are characteristic of Neanderthal culture (Mousterian); they had an effective but fairly simple tool kit which changed very little over the life-time of the species. This constrasts sharply with the rapid advances made in technology by early modern humans.
