Kindred

Our perception of the Neanderthals has undergone a metamorphosis since their discovery 150 years ago, from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins. Spanning scientific curiosity and popular cultural fascination means that there is a wealth of coverage in the media and beyond but do we get the whole story? The reality of 21st century Neanderthals is complex and fascinating, yet remains virtually unknown and inaccessible outside the scientific literature. In Kindred, Neanderthal expert Becky Wragg Sykes shoves aside the clich of the rag-clad brute in an icy wasteland, and reveals the Neanderthal you don t know, who lived across vast and diverse tracts of Eurasia and survived through hundreds of thousands of years of massive climate change.This book will shed new light on where they lived, what they ate, and the increasingly complex Neanderthal culture that is being uncovered, up to and including the very recent discovery of verifiably Neanderthal cave art. Based on the author s first-hand experience at the cutting-edge of Palaeolithic research and theory, this easy-to-read but information-rich book lays out the full picture we now have of the Neanderthals for the first time, from amazing new discoveries changing our view of them forever to the more enduring mysteries of how they lived and died, and their relationship with modern humans.