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Re:Modern human incursion into Neanderthal territories 54k y... by soperj on Thursday February 10, 2022 @02:13PM (#30291006)
>Europe didn’t send its best people, but disease, better weapons and toxic politics carried the age.

It was mostly disease. The muskets at the time were tragic. A properly trained infantry soldier could fire at most 4 rounds per minute.

Re:Modern human incursion into Neanderthal territories 54k y... by nradov on Friday February 11, 2022 @12:08AM (#30297253)
The muskets (arquebuses) used by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century were even slower than that. They were lucky to fire 2 rounds per minute. But they also had crossbows, steel weapons, armor, and horses — as well as tactical doctrine which completely outclassed any of the primitive New World civilizations.

But disease did wipe out the majority of their adversaries, so they had a relatively easy time dealing with the survivors.

Re:Modern human incursion into Neanderthal territories 54k y... by Spooky23 on Friday February 11, 2022 @12:34PM (#30304283)
Also horses. I wouldn’t envy a soldier with a stone/mica blade facing a mounted, armored cavalryman with a steel sword.