In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins, with 183 Illustrations

by Chris Stringer, Clive Gamble

Portrayed as club-wielding cavemen, the Neanderthals have become the archetype of all that is primitive and uncultured. But were the Neanderthals the ancestors of modern humans, or an evolutionary dead end, replaced by fully modern people from Africa? The authors take the latter view in this highly readable book that provides the most up-to-date summary of knowledge about Neanderthals and their world.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Anthropology, History, Evolution, Prehistory, Archaeology

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Professor Christopher Brian Stringer, Fellow of the Royal Society currently works at the National History Museum, London, as research leader in human origins.

Reviews

[Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Christopher Stringer, along with Ian Tattersall, are my two favorite writers when it comes to reading books about paleoanthropology and our human origins. Dr. Stringer's In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins, while somewhat dated (1993), is a fascinating account of the fossil, genetic, ecological, and archaeological data associated with the Neandertals (Homo neandertalensis) and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens). For many years, almost since the first Neandertal fossil was found in the mid-19th century, it has been thought that modern humans (H. sapiens) were descendants of this earlier hominin species. We now know that this is not the case. In fact, it is now clear that at one point in time--about 45,000 years ago--there may have been as many as four different and distinct human species living on Earth at the same time, including the Neandertals, modern humans, and then the very ancient Homo erectus in southeast Asia, and perhaps the diminutive hominin on the island of Flores in the Indonesian archipelago, Homo floresiensis. [Note that this doesn't take into account the status of the still mysterious "Denisovan" hominin found in one cave in Russia's Altai Mountains, and that appear to be genetically distinct from both Neandertals and anatomically modern humans!]

Much of Dr. Stringer's book focuses on describing the fossil, biological, genetic and archaeological data and evidence that actually distinguishes anatomically modern humans (i.e., us) from the Neandertal peoples. It is Stringer's contention, and that of much of the paleoanthropological community as well, that anatomically modern humans are not descended from Neandertals, but were a contemporaneous species that shared a common ancestor such as Homo heidelbergensis or Homo antecessor between them and the earlier Homo erectus.

In this book, Dr. Stringer does an excellent job of making the case for an "Out-of-Africa" dispersal for anatomically modern humans that probably began about 90,000-70,000 years ago, and by 45,000 years ago these modern humans, also known as the "Cro-Magnon", had spread into western Europe, the home of the Neandertals for 200,000+ years and ultimately displaced them. It appears that the modern behaviors (e.g., planning, art, improved stone-tool and shelter technologies, language, etc.) and tremendous environmental adaptability exhibited by these new modern peoples was probably enough to pressure the Neandertals to have to shift to small isolated enclaves at the margins of their former range across much of western and central Europe. This diminution of their range and inability to adapt ultimately led to the extinction of the Neandertals approximately 30,000-25,000 years ago.

If you're looking for a good one-volume, easy-to-read, treatment of the origins and relationship between our close cousins, the Neandertals, and ourselves, then I highly recommend this book. Additionally, this volume is profusely illustrated with a terrific collection of photographs that illustrates and supports the fossil evidence for Stringer's contention that anatomically modern humans evolved separately and apart from Neandertals. Finally, if you want the latest--state-of-the-science--information about our human origins, I strongly urge you to read Dr. Stringer's latest book, Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth.

[Ian Hulstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up while writing a paper on Neanderthals and I am really grateful that I chose this over other books in the school library. It looks like a textbook but reads really easily. There are lots of helpful images, graphs, and insets focusing on interesting but tangentially related topics.
All the information I needed on the discovery, morphology, & environment of Neanderthals was easy to locate and well described with sources clearly labelled.
Interestingly, I only found out after the fact that my current textbook in Biological Anthropology cites heavily from this author and this work in particular: so most of the information is still valid even though this was written in 1993.

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the seminal books on Neandertals, paving the way for other studies. It is very comprehensive and fairly easy to read, not too technical. It does seem dated however, (1993) we have since mapped the whole sequence of Neandertal DNA and see that many of us have some of that DNA in our own sequence. Neandertals live on.

This book is an important resource, but I kept hoping for a more sympathetic voice. Glad to have read it but think Neanderthals Reconsidered written 20 years later by Papagianni and Morse is the better book.

[Nicolas Perrault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkably, the radiocarbon dates in this book are among the only aspects that can be considered dated. It is the only general public book I know that gives inline sources for its claims on this delicate subject. For this reason, it is many times more valuable than other much more recent general public books, which have the bad habit of making bold opiniated claims with no references.

[Paky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante, con una buena descripción de quienes fueron los neandertales, el mundo en la era glaciar, y el origen del Homo sapiens. En un lenguaje compresible, muy apoyado en los distintos yacimientos de homínidos distribuidos por Europa, Asia y África, con buenas láminas con imágenes e ilustraciones. El libro, escrito hace más de 20 años, se queda algo anticuado. No hace prácticamente referencia al conocido yacimiento de Atapuerca, por lo que conviene completar su lectura con algún otro libro más reciente de autores españoles que nos pongan al día acerca de las revelaciones de las últimas excavaciones y conocer nuevos planteamientos en las teorías de la evolución humana.

[Benja · Rating 3 out of 5]

SINOPSIS:

Es un ensayo sobre los Neandertales. Que por cierto, como hay muchos restos fósiles que están a caballo entre una especie y otra, y no se define fehacientemente, los autores han decidido llamarlos en algunos caso "humanos modermos" y "humanos arcaicos", que es una forma de esquivar el tema.

Nos habla de muchos aspectos de los neandertales, desde su origen y evolución, hasta sus costumbres, su cultura, alimentación, armamento, posible relación social, probables causas de su extinción, etc.

No está mal, pero he leído libros del tema más interesantes sobre el tema. Aconsejable para tomar contacto con el mundo neandertal, pero no me ha aportado cosas excepcionalmente nuevas.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, thorough look at the Neanderthals, who fascinate me because they are us, yet not us. The descriptions of the physical/anatomical findings were great, but the part of stone tools was something of a yawn. One interesting thing I learned: I always thought the Cro Magnons were "us" but they weren't either. The frustrating thing about these books on human origins is that we will NEVER have all our questions answered no matter now many excavations are done.

[Ballpeendash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always too tired to read...but I will eventually finish this book.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while but it was pretty good, as I recall.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good look at the paleolithic era and the people who lived it.