Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

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 delicate objects out of stone as well as many sophisticated items for hunting, cooking and decoration. The range of their habitats was also a lot wider than previously thought; traces of the Neanderthal have been found throughout Europe and much of Asia. Considering that they existed for at least 350,000 years, they were obviously successful in many climates and terrains.

The book covers so many aspects of Neanderthal life and culture and presents it in a very readable style. Each chapter begins with a descriptive imagining of the aspect of life covered in the chapter (“The firebrand glow on the walls dies like a fading sunset, as footsteps whisper away into faintness…”). In describing the physical differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, Wragg Sykes makes it seem very personal. “Reach out in greeting, and you’d see that while your thumb tip is shorter than the second bone, in Neanderthals – even infants – both are nearly the same length. And the hand that clasps yours in an emphatically firm grip is wider, with more flared fingertips.”

I was particularly interested in aspects of their living style – what they ate, what their living area was like, how they might have interacted. I also learned more about how stone can be worked than I ever imagined. There is an entire chapter with extensive detail about how stone objects were knapped, retouched, shaped and polished – with many photographs and diagrams. In addition to these visuals throughout the book, there are eight pages of color photographs and recreations, including some of the most important archaeological sites.

One of the many mysteries not yet solved about their lives is why – or how – they became extinct, although Wragg Sykes writes, “The fate of the Neanderthals has monopolised enormous amounts of attention, yet it may be the least interesting thing about them.” And, she points out that they intermingled with Homo sapiens so they still exist in our DNA. She adds, “What’s clearer than ever before, though, is that the ‘end’ of the Neanderthals was a process involving bodily and probably cultural assimilation.”

The final chapter looks at some of the theories that have been put forward, while considering evidence that makes it clear none of them can be the full explanation.

“We may never discover the precise details of what happened; how could we, when every Neanderthal’s story from the Atlantic to the Altai would be unique? But we do already know something: the belief that Neanderthals were a failed early release hominin, on a road to nowhere, has tainted perceptions of the archaeological record for well over a century.”

This book does an excellent job of correcting that.