Stranger than Fiction

The book I chose for the 2022 NONFICTION READER CHALLENGE in the category Social History is Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, by Rebecca Wragg Sykes, 2020. I checked the definition of ‘social history’ on Wikipedia to make sure I was on the right track: “a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past.” This definition certainly suited this book, which I was planning to read anyway because I am very interested in archaeology and prehistory. As the title indicates, the book focuses on what is known about aspects of Neanderthal life – how and where they lived, what they ate, and what is now known about their culture. Almost everything most people think they know about Neanderthals is wrong. In the last two decades more has been discovered about their lives than in the previous century, and it is all fascinating. Instead of the unintelligent club-carrying thugs of the Stone Age, the Neanderthals were adaptable and extremely creative, being able to fashion delica...