Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, Rebecca Wragg Sykes (Bloomsbury, 2020). One hundred seventy-five thousand years ago, a group of people carried torches deep into a cave in what is now the southwest of France. There they broke some four hundred stalagmites from the ground and used the central cylindrical pieces — more than two tons of them —to build a pair of enormous circles. The stones were layered atop each other (up to four levels in some places) and carefully braced to build the walls of the rings. In a few places they stacked more stones, for all the world like the ruins of some classical temple, in piles. And then they lit fires, beside and on top of the structure itself. There was no cooking or butchering in the cave, which lies about a thousand feet down a narrow passage, and without any means of venting the smoke of their torches and fires the air must have been choking. But they or their fellows returned more than once to build further fires amidst the stone rings. We don’t know who these people were or why they did any of this. But we have some idea what they looked like, because they were Neanderthals.
I bought the book, thanks. I really liked the other book recommendations. I've read a bunch of those, and I'm now looking forward to reading "The World Before Us". My main reason for writing is to talk about "The Goodness Paradox". This book, more than any other I can think of, changed how I think about human evolution. As you hint at, there seem to be many possible implications (spandrels) of our self domestication that Wrangham doesn't follow up on. Neoteny (staying childlike) and the scrambling of our sexuality, might both be downstream of domestication.
And finally I thought I'd offer you (or maybe your husband) a book that you perhaps have not read. "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander. Lots of ideas in this book are things I sorta knew, but having them fleshed out by someone who had thought about them more was useful. How we build and interact with our living spaces... it's great and I'm sure you'll love the parts about children's spaces. (I added a window seat a few years ago and all the pets and humans in the house love it.)
Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins, when you eventually try out my bike? And I don’t know if you’ve read Margalit Fox’s The Riddle of the Labyrinth (on cracking Linear B) but I bet you’d love it: https://amzn.to/3UHIAsN
I have some personal experience on some of the things you wrote about, so here’s my piece for what’s worth it might be:
As someone from Africa, and someone that lived in various regions and in and out of cities, I have no doubt how Neanderthals lived.
Even for people that have been exposed to relative modern practices, medicines and health practices , you might be surprised to learn that millions on that continent still do not boil their water (even with an abundance of wood etc)
So yeah, the rest applies how they not keep protein sources from being infected with flu larvae etc. Shelter building is reduced to wood/grass huts where mud mixed with grass/straw makes a way more enduring water/wind/element proof structure. Allas..... So, I guess if you want to know how the Neanderthal lived..... You can have a good upgrade to your point of reference when you join one of these tribes for a year or two.
However, one thing for sure! They do not hold to the belief that their ancestors were what you believe em to be.
In fact, they take exception to that thinking.
Lastly, I was of the understanding that It was agreed that Lucy was more ape than what was originally thought!
So that makes me question the dates & timelines of a lot of other incidences you wrote about.
As for those people who built a wall with stalagmites etc and made fires on it and around it, was to keep predators away and at bay. Everyone who ever slept on the grasslands and open Savanna’s know that the only thing that keeps a hyaena or leopard from dragging you off in the dead of night is to surround yourself with fires! Big ones!
Just saying!
But an interesting read never the less.
Ps. Very interesting how you ended your piece. It exposed a definite bias to your belief system, yet, you speak of someone who definitely didn’t believe what you do as if it’s settled science that people from the Biblical times believed in the evolution theory, where they had written records of their ancestry disagreeing with it, and thoroughly understood that praying for the dead is a useless and forbade practice, yet you recommend it.
Don’t really know what to make of that. It sort of places everything you wrote in a questionable category. But that’s just me. Others might not even pick up on this.
I bought the book, thanks. I really liked the other book recommendations. I've read a bunch of those, and I'm now looking forward to reading "The World Before Us". My main reason for writing is to talk about "The Goodness Paradox". This book, more than any other I can think of, changed how I think about human evolution. As you hint at, there seem to be many possible implications (spandrels) of our self domestication that Wrangham doesn't follow up on. Neoteny (staying childlike) and the scrambling of our sexuality, might both be downstream of domestication.
And finally I thought I'd offer you (or maybe your husband) a book that you perhaps have not read. "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander. Lots of ideas in this book are things I sorta knew, but having them fleshed out by someone who had thought about them more was useful. How we build and interact with our living spaces... it's great and I'm sure you'll love the parts about children's spaces. (I added a window seat a few years ago and all the pets and humans in the house love it.)
I know this is an old thread, but any chance you still have gift subscriptions to unsupervised learning? I love the free posts I have read over there.
Oooh, can I look at your copy of
Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins, when you eventually try out my bike? And I don’t know if you’ve read Margalit Fox’s The Riddle of the Labyrinth (on cracking Linear B) but I bet you’d love it: https://amzn.to/3UHIAsN
Interesting read. Thx
I have some personal experience on some of the things you wrote about, so here’s my piece for what’s worth it might be:
As someone from Africa, and someone that lived in various regions and in and out of cities, I have no doubt how Neanderthals lived.
Even for people that have been exposed to relative modern practices, medicines and health practices , you might be surprised to learn that millions on that continent still do not boil their water (even with an abundance of wood etc)
So yeah, the rest applies how they not keep protein sources from being infected with flu larvae etc. Shelter building is reduced to wood/grass huts where mud mixed with grass/straw makes a way more enduring water/wind/element proof structure. Allas..... So, I guess if you want to know how the Neanderthal lived..... You can have a good upgrade to your point of reference when you join one of these tribes for a year or two.
However, one thing for sure! They do not hold to the belief that their ancestors were what you believe em to be.
In fact, they take exception to that thinking.
Lastly, I was of the understanding that It was agreed that Lucy was more ape than what was originally thought!
So that makes me question the dates & timelines of a lot of other incidences you wrote about.
As for those people who built a wall with stalagmites etc and made fires on it and around it, was to keep predators away and at bay. Everyone who ever slept on the grasslands and open Savanna’s know that the only thing that keeps a hyaena or leopard from dragging you off in the dead of night is to surround yourself with fires! Big ones!
Just saying!
But an interesting read never the less.
Ps. Very interesting how you ended your piece. It exposed a definite bias to your belief system, yet, you speak of someone who definitely didn’t believe what you do as if it’s settled science that people from the Biblical times believed in the evolution theory, where they had written records of their ancestry disagreeing with it, and thoroughly understood that praying for the dead is a useless and forbade practice, yet you recommend it.
Don’t really know what to make of that. It sort of places everything you wrote in a questionable category. But that’s just me. Others might not even pick up on this.
Thx