Neanderthal lifecycles

Developmental and Social Phases in the Lives of the Last Archaics

Bibliographic Data

ID3919003
AuthorsP Pettitt (0000-0002-6195-9376, Oxford Archaeology, corresponding author), P B Pettitt (corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume31
Issue3
Pages351-366
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/713781494
PMID16475295
OpenAlexW4245623563
LanguageEN
Citations received35
References cited39

Neanderthal lives were not easy, and, given the levels of physical exertion they seem to have experienced habitually, bringing them often into contact with physical trauma, it would not be surprising if such phenomena played a major role in the way in which Neanderthals perceived the world. This is the underlying theme of this paper, which is organized into two parts. After presenting data on Neanderthal ontogeny and lifecycles, an attempt is made to integrate these broadly with the archaeological record and intepret both in terms of the constitution of society by Neanderthal individuals. In this sense it is in the main a purely interpretative work, representing the author's reading of the biometric and archaeological data. Given that linguistic and/or external means of information storage and communication were probably poor or absent in Neanderthal society, it is suggested that the phases of the Neanderthal lifecycle and events of physical trauma experienced ubiquitously within it played the major role in the negotiation of individual identities within Neanderthal bands, and ultimately were a major factor in the constitution of Neanderthal society

Archaeological record · Archaeology · Genealogy · Linguistics · Neanderthal · Reading (process · Sociology · Theme (computing · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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