Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lindadielemans 's review for:
The Last Neanderthal
by Claire Cameron
This book was not the let-me-paint-you-a-completely-new-Neanderthal-picture story I expected it to be. There are two storylines: one about a young, pregnant archaeologist in modern times and one of a small family of Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago. This novel claims it will change the way we think about Neanderthals (grunting, club-carrying dumbos, that is). But, on the whole, the Neanderthals reminded me strongly of the ones in Clan of the Cave Bear, a book that's over 30 years old. They are still portrayed as simple and limited, although to be fair, there is a sense of culture, and Camerons Neanderthal characters have a bit more depth than Auels.
The archaeologist was incredibly whiney, and I was constantly annoyed with her, also on the science part. The archaeological discovery that she is obsessing about - a modern human and a Neanderthal being buried next to each other (in the same geological layer that is) - doesn't necessarily mean what is suggested in the novel. They could have been buried ten years apart or more. There's no way to know (with current techniques) if they were even alive at the same time, let alone had a relationship (clan-wise or other). This annoyed me, because the novel is claiming to have a strong, up-to-date scientific base. But, besides all that, I guess it was okay (I finished it), especially if you don't know anything about archaeology or Neanderthals yet. I suppose in that case it might be a refreshing and entertaining read.
The archaeologist was incredibly whiney, and I was constantly annoyed with her, also on the science part. The archaeological discovery that she is obsessing about - a modern human and a Neanderthal being buried next to each other (in the same geological layer that is) - doesn't necessarily mean what is suggested in the novel. They could have been buried ten years apart or more. There's no way to know (with current techniques) if they were even alive at the same time, let alone had a relationship (clan-wise or other). This annoyed me, because the novel is claiming to have a strong, up-to-date scientific base. But, besides all that, I guess it was okay (I finished it), especially if you don't know anything about archaeology or Neanderthals yet. I suppose in that case it might be a refreshing and entertaining read.