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The Smart Neanderthal
Book

The Smart Neanderthal

Bird Catching, Cave Art & the Cognitive Revolution

Oxford UP, 2019 Mehr
References: Gregory et al. (2017)


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging

Recommendation

The idea that Neanderthals were cognitively inferior to Homo sapiens and that this difference explains the extinction of the Neanderthals and the triumph of H. sapiens is prevalent among both archeologists and lay people. Some view H. sapiens as “behaviorally modern humans,” distinct from both Neanderthals and other anatomically modern humans – based on characteristics such as the way they made and used tools, the emergence of ornament and art, and the shifting types of social life. Anthropologist Clive Finlayson challenges those assumptions and contends that perhaps people underestimated the cognitive capacities of the Neanderthals.

Take-Aways

  • Many people still believe Neanderthals were cognitively inferior to “Modern Humans.”
  • The “Neanderthal–Modern Human boundary” isn’t clear-cut. People tend to underestimate Neanderthals’ capacities and aptitudes.
  • Archeological and paleoanthropological findings aren’t sufficient to characterize the different species of Homo and their subspecies.

About the Author

Clive Finlayson is a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived.


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