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17 reviews for:
The Smart Neanderthal: Cave Art, Bird Catching, and the Cognitive Revolution
Clive Finlayson
3.74 AVERAGE
17 reviews for:
The Smart Neanderthal: Cave Art, Bird Catching, and the Cognitive Revolution
Clive Finlayson
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I bought this book in Gibraltar which set the scene for loving descriptions of the penisula and the ecology which has inspired Finlayson's academic career. I enjoyed the discussions of avifauna and their ability to help us understand Neanderthals alongside the ancedotal and easy to read recollections of the author's own experiences. Whilst Finlayson could be accused of self indulgence, his interests do drive groundbreaking research and provide fresh insights into Neanderthals, the natural world and ultimately ourselves.
challenging
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I wasn’t so sure when I went into this but upon reading I was fascinated by the how much about Neanderthals could be interpreted through indirect mean.
This is a great book about archeozoology and how advance Neanderthals actually are. I can’t wait to read up on the subject more.
This is a great book about archeozoology and how advance Neanderthals actually are. I can’t wait to read up on the subject more.
The Smart Neanderthal by Clive Finlayson
This is an interesting and odd book.
The author, Clive Finlayson, is an anthropologist whose base of operations is Gibraltar. Finlayson has two scientific passions, bird-watching and Neanderthals. In this book, he brings the two together as a way of providing insights into the lives of Neanderthals. Finlayson makes the point that while most of the megafauna that interacted with Neanderthals have long gone extinct, the birds we see today are the same species that the Neanderthals saw.
The book's principal focus is the claim that Neanderthals were less cognitively developed than modern homo sapiens. The argument is made that the homo sapien's cognitive advantage gave them a greater ability to exploit the environment by hunting smaller and faster animals, while cognitively limited Neanderthals were restricted to slow and large animals. Finlayson argues against this position by pointing out that Neanderthals could easily exploit the bird population and that there is archeological evidence that Neanderthals captured raptors for their feathers. The evidence comes in the form of cut marks on the fossilized wing bones of birds that are consistent with taking feathers. The speculation is that the feathers were taken for display and that perhaps Neanderthals taught homo sapiens to wear feathers as ornaments.
One point made by Finlayson that was particularly interesting was his explanation for why it took modern homo sapiens approximately 60,000 years to move from the Middle East to Europe, namely the Neanderthals kept them out of Europe. That is a simple and direct explanation, but it conjures the idea of a border way lasting fifteen times longer than human history.
Astounding.
The book has drawbacks. If you are a birder, you will find the long descriptions of birds fascinating, but if you are not, then they may be something to skim through. Likewise, Finlayson wants to give the book a human feel with descriptions of his life as a birdwatcher and his family's work on Gibraltar. Some of this is interesting but it gives the book a somewhat scattered feel as a quasi-travelogue, quasi-text.
Nonetheless, I did find the text interesting. It does offer some insights into Neanderthal life from an unusual angle.
This is an interesting and odd book.
The author, Clive Finlayson, is an anthropologist whose base of operations is Gibraltar. Finlayson has two scientific passions, bird-watching and Neanderthals. In this book, he brings the two together as a way of providing insights into the lives of Neanderthals. Finlayson makes the point that while most of the megafauna that interacted with Neanderthals have long gone extinct, the birds we see today are the same species that the Neanderthals saw.
The book's principal focus is the claim that Neanderthals were less cognitively developed than modern homo sapiens. The argument is made that the homo sapien's cognitive advantage gave them a greater ability to exploit the environment by hunting smaller and faster animals, while cognitively limited Neanderthals were restricted to slow and large animals. Finlayson argues against this position by pointing out that Neanderthals could easily exploit the bird population and that there is archeological evidence that Neanderthals captured raptors for their feathers. The evidence comes in the form of cut marks on the fossilized wing bones of birds that are consistent with taking feathers. The speculation is that the feathers were taken for display and that perhaps Neanderthals taught homo sapiens to wear feathers as ornaments.
One point made by Finlayson that was particularly interesting was his explanation for why it took modern homo sapiens approximately 60,000 years to move from the Middle East to Europe, namely the Neanderthals kept them out of Europe. That is a simple and direct explanation, but it conjures the idea of a border way lasting fifteen times longer than human history.
Astounding.
The book has drawbacks. If you are a birder, you will find the long descriptions of birds fascinating, but if you are not, then they may be something to skim through. Likewise, Finlayson wants to give the book a human feel with descriptions of his life as a birdwatcher and his family's work on Gibraltar. Some of this is interesting but it gives the book a somewhat scattered feel as a quasi-travelogue, quasi-text.
Nonetheless, I did find the text interesting. It does offer some insights into Neanderthal life from an unusual angle.
An interesting, if disorganized and self-indulgent, look at Neanderthal natural history by a bird watcher in a rather forced combination of a bird-watching journal and research notes. The Neanderthals probably didn't care how many modern human beings had sighted a specific bird when they roasted it up on a stick in a cave, and neither do I. I kept waiting for insights about Neanderthals arising from the extremely detailed descriptions of bird behaviors, and, aside from the initial chapter, was quite disappointed. Still worth reading.