The Social and Material Life of Neanderthals

Abstract

While it is a commonplace to state that every age gets the Neanderthals it either deserves, or wants, there has recently been a sea-change in these just-desserts and needs. It has taken 150 years for Neanderthals to emerge as humans with a difference and this difference depends not on the shape of the skulls or tools but rather in their competence as social actors. Here, I set out an approach that supplements the rational analysis of their behavior with a relational understanding of their lives. Using the social brain hypothesis I argue that the differences between these perspectives have important implications for the development of Paleolithic archaeology, and in particular the role of artifacts as material metaphors based on the experience of social life.