November 27, 2023
In this ho-hum study, Slimak (The Last Neanderthal), a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toulouse in France, examines what recent anthropological findings reveal about the lives of Neanderthals. Slimak argues Neanderthals were “an utterly different humanity” than Homo sapiens and thrived in Eurasia from 350 to 40 thousand years ago before sapiens’ arrival on the continent from Africa led to Neanderthal “eradication.” Evaluating theories of how Neanderthals went extinct, Slimak contends that human species are highly adaptable, making it unlikely that changes in climate killed the Neanderthals. Instead, he asserts that sapiens’ technologically superior weapons gave them an edge when it came to hunting game. Unfortunately, the uncertainty that permeates much of the volume will leave readers with more questions than answers; for instance, Slimak notes that scientists aren’t sure of the boundaries of where Neanderthals lived, and the high margin of error in carbon-dating ancient sites has made it difficult to determine if many of the alleged Neanderthal artifacts even belonged to them. Slimak also appears more preoccupied with poking holes in other scientists’ theories than discussing what Neanderthals were like, as when he posits that the claws, shells, and feathers that some scientists argue constituted Neanderthal “art” were just collections of objects that bear no signs of “deliberate artisanal modification.” Only devoted students of the Paleolithic will find this dig worth the effort.
October 15, 2023
A paleontologist explores how we might better understand our ancient relatives. Slimak's central argument, a synthesis of decades of his own and others' research, is that Neanderthals possessed a distinctive form of intelligence in some ways superior to that of Homo sapiens. The author explains how recent discoveries have informed a reassessment of this species' social and artisanal practices, and he offers adventurous speculations on the dimensions and meaning of its cognitive endowments. Clear explications of scientific concepts, lively commentary on the implications of competing ideas, and engaging storytelling describing the pursuit of knowledge by dedicated investigators bring a startling picture of an alternate humanity into view. We gain a clear and memorable sense, for instance, of the creative orientation and aesthetic sensibility suggested by Neanderthals' craftsmanship, the role cannibalism might have played in their societies, the relationship between their hunting preferences and presumed social values, and the most plausible reasons behind their ultimate extinction. In one particularly striking section, Slimak summarizes the profound lessons to be learned from studying Neanderthal tool-making. "The constant play that these people established between the materials they used and their technological traditions brings us face to face with a creativity that is beyond us," he writes. "And this infinite playful production of original works, which is nonetheless based on well-defined traditions, enters into a dialectic with the materials, the textures, the colours of the rocks, which guide, or participate in, the balance of the whole creation." Also excellent is the author's broader discussion of how our own human prejudices have limited our appreciation of the Neanderthals' achievements, a perceptual blindness he convincingly relates to modern forms of racism. Slimak shows how we have much more to learn about ourselves by studying "exotic sensibilities" and more fully acknowledging "our nature not as humanity but as a humanity." An exhilarating contemplation of human otherness.
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