Have you ever wondered, looking at this famous “portrait” of a Neanderthal, the closest to human being species, who has made this cute hairdress for him?
Oh yes, his hair is already rather messy, but it is nevertheless evident that about a half a year ago someone has cut his hair and trimmed his beard. Because a beard and hair will be exactly this long in a half a year after haircut. Moreover, if Neanderthal had normal hair instead of fur on his head, he would have an enormously long coiffure till the age of 17. As the hair grows as fast as 1 centimetre a month, he would have more than a meter of locks and a long beard at that age.
Keep in mind that the excavations of Neanderthal’s settlings have not discovered any stone scissors or other depilation instruments. Then where does this notorious image of a Neanderthal with nice hairdress a-la Beatles comes from?
We can even suppose that Neanderthals had some special hair on their face and head, growing only to this extent and providing these people with this kind of haircut. But still the question persists: how did the first human beings manage their endlessly growing hair? Why did the nature supplied them with this strange feature which could be managed only with the help of the scissors and a hair comb? It is impossible to cut a beard with a stone hammer. It is even less possible to comb an almost 2 meters long hair with a hand or a stick.
Just imagine how the Neanderthals or first humans looked like: they had at least a knee-long never washed and never combed mat of hair. Men even had two of these: one in the front (a beard), second to the back. But these dread locks can easily get you stuck in the thorny bushes with you hair caught in it. And then it would be really hard to break free without leaving your scalp on the bush. Stuck on a bush Neanderthal must have been an easy prey for any predator.
This means that for survival of human being the hair must become endlessly growing only after invention of braid-making and hairdressing tools as scissors and combs. Our locks are not adapted for living in the wilderness and without tools at all. Some animals have endlessly growing body parts, but these are important for their survival and are intended for excessive tear and wear. For example, the rodents’ endlessly growing teeth are grinded down during meal. as they eat lots of very solid food (nuts). But how are we supposed to tear and wear our hear and beard? It looks like something is missing in the evolutionary model of human development.
