Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

by Rebecca Wragg Sykes

In total, the Neanderthals endured for an astonishing 350,000 years, until we lose sight of them – or, at least their fossils and artefacts – somewhere around 40 ka. So far, so dizzying. But it’s not just time: Neanderthals also spread across a remarkably vast swathe of space. More Eurasian than European, they lived from north Wales across to the borders of China, and southwards to the fringes of Arabia’s deserts.

During excavation, variation in sediment colour or texture as well as the contents of each layer – artefacts and animal bones – are signposts for how conditions changed through time.

there are over 20 identified hominin species from just the last 3.5 million years.