Rainbow Juice: We Are Neanderthals

The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not used in the creation of the items on this blog.

Tuesday, 1 September 2026

We Are Neanderthals

In 1856 the first recognised fossil belonging to the species Homo neanderthalensis (aka the Neanderthals) was discovered in the Neander Valley, Germany. Neanderthals inhabited Europe, Western and Central Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene epochs (approximately 800,000 to 12,000 years ago.) They became extinct approximately 40,000 years ago, although some may have survived a few thousand years longer in the Gibraltar region.

Another species, the Denisovans, were only recently identified, in 2010. The Denisovans inhabited Asia from about 200,000 to 32,000 years ago.

DNA studies of Neanderthals has been possible since the late 1990s, and their full sequence was published in 2010. Denisovans too, have had their DNA analysed.

One of the offshoots of these genetic analyses has been to discover that Europeans and Eurasians contain, on average, 1-4% Neanderthal DNA. People living in Asia, SE Asia, Melanesia, and Australian first nations people contain 4-6% Denisovan DNA.

Initially it was thought that the only people without any DNA from either of these species were sub-Saharan Africans. However, recently, it has been discovered that here too, Neanderthal DNA represents approximately 0.5% of their DNA. This has been cited as evidence for back-migration following the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa.

These genetic discoveries show that inter-breeding occurred between Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, and Denisovans.

We modern humans (Homo sapiens) contain 1-4% Neanderthal DNA, or 4-6% Denisovan DNA.

We are humans with Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA.

That’s one way to look at it. But wait!

What if we took an oblique perspective?

What if instead of thinking that Homo sapiens contain Neanderthal DNA, we took the perspective that we are Neanderthal with between 96% and 99% Sapiens?

Ridiculous, I hear some scream.

Yet, we think this sort of thought many times. For example, I was born in New Zealand, as were my parents and all my grandparents. Yet, I can still identify myself as having Scottish, German, and English ancestry. I could, if I wanted, say I am Scottish, or German.

So, why not think of ourselves as Neanderthal, or Denisovan?

It is not as stupid as it may seem. It may even overcome some of the prejudice about Neanderthals that can be heard. It may also challenge the snide comments of “knuckle-dragger,” “ape,” or “caveman” that sometimes get levelled at those we think are stupid or inferior to ourselves.

Furthermore, thinking this way may help us recognise the benefits Neanderthal DNA offers us. Our immune system was given a boost, enabling us to ward off pathogens common in Europe and Eurasia and enabled us to survive in new territories. Our skin and hair were modified, supporting our ability to adapt to colder climates and differing levels of sunlight. It seems too, that our metabolism may have been influenced by Neanderthal DNA, allowing for adaptation to differing food availability.

Yes, it is possible to call ourselves Neanderthals, with Sapiens DNA.