The Neanderthals

The Emergence of Man #4

by George Constable, Time-Life Books

Book 4 of the Time Life series The Emergence of Man.

Genres: History, Reference

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

1973 Time-Life book from "The Emergence of Man" series. Good summary of what was known of Neanderthals at the time with lots of interesting tidbits and wonderful illustrations. Unsurprisingly, author George Constable is pro-Neanderthal and spends most of his book attempting to convince the reader of the nobility of his subject matter. Constable points out that the full scientific name for Neanderthals is Homo Sapien Neanderthalensis vs our species Homo Sapien Sapien. Constable argues that most of the things that define our culture were active in Neanderthal populations: cooperative society; care for the young, infirm, and old; ritual behavior; and belief in an afterlife. Anthropologists have found Neanderthal burials with the interred holding the jaw bones of massive boars, covered with flint tools/hand axes, or covered with wild flowers. Constable also notes Neanderthal caverns that have multiple cave bear skulls in niches or arranged all facing the entrance of the cavern and appear to be the focus of some type of ritual cult activity. (The Clan of the Cave Bear anyone?) Recently scientists found the Neanderthal "Stone Hedge" in a French cave; see this article from the Atlantic magazine. http://www.theatlantic.com/science/ar... This is the first known hominid structure and uranium-dating puts it being built 175,000 years ago. The last portion of the book is devoted to what caused the Neanderthal population to go extinct. Constable covers the standard hypotheses that the Neanderthals were either out competed and replaced by modern humans or that they themselves evolved into modern humans. Constable strongly argues for the later, but given all of the current genetic studies that have been completed, it appears that former is true. Sorry Neanderthals, you seem like swell people.