THE CULTURAL CAPACITIES OF NEANDERTALS - A REVIEW AND REEVALUATION

Numerous articles have appeared in the past decade that have portrayed Neandertals in a dehumanized, almost non-cultural fashion. Re-examination of the arguments and data indicates that such portrayals are more extreme than warranted. There are reasonable indications for some specialized and structured use of space; for the construction of shelters; for the use of a sophisticated technology involving standardized tools, economically rational behavior and foresight; for the ability to make basic bone tools, evolved stone blades and other complex tools; for the existence of rituals; for the existence of symbolic burials; and for the existence of cultural differences between regions. It is suggested that some of these characteristics probably originate among Preneandertal populations, become more elaborate in some classic Neandertal populations and persist into or become even more elaborate in the Upper Paleolithic. Finally, a model is proposed capable of explaining differences between Middle and Upper Paleolithic art in technological and economic terms rather than biological terms. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.