'Neanderthals Among Us' by Peter Sahlins Review
This article reviews Peter Sahlins' book 'Neanderthals Among Us,' which explores the history of Neanderthal research and their representation in popular culture. It traces the evolution of the Neanderthal image from early scientific discovery to modern media depictions.
Why it matters
It provides a comprehensive look at how scientific discovery intersects with cultural mythology and human identity.
Neanderthals Among Us: The Making of a Prehistoric Human by Peter Sahlins charts the ascent of an idea from prehistory to popular culture.
I n 1856 quarrymen digging in a cave in the Neander Valley in west Germany came upon the bones of what they assumed to be an old cave bear. Realising it was, in fact, a strange human with a shallow, sloping forehead, huge brow ridge, and massive limbs, Johann Carl Fuhlrott, a local schoolteacher, collected the bones and took them to the University of Bonn, where they were judged to be of great antiquity, and, possibly, the remnants of Europe’s earliest population. Neanderthal 1 (the German suffix thal means ‘valley’) would become the first ancient hominin recognised as being from another species, Homo neanderthalensis .
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