The Neanderthal figure was well adapted to climates of northern latitudes and glacial periods. Some of the key characteristics of their bodies are:

• Shorter, more robust frames that limit the surface area of skin exposed to the air. Another contributing factor to keeping warm was that they had less sweat glands, holding more heat inside. The more heat that is held inside, the less energy that is required to heat the body. Less energy obtained from their food would be used to maintain body temperature.
• Their nasal cavities were large in volume which served to moisturize and warm the air before it reached their throat.

It is interesting to note that there have been several different remains that demonstrate severly broken and healed bones. These injuries could be due to a number of reasons such as disputes or hunting incidents. The more relevant point is that they helped and tended to the impaired.

 

Figure 20: A winter scene