I don’t know if anyone here has read “Neanderthal” by John Darnton. It’s a novel, and like all good novels, the author has done a hell-of-a-lot of research in its production. I have only just started reading it, and it will take me a while, because I have 4 other books in various stages of being read (does anyone else do this?)
In its first few chapters, it poses the question What Happened to Neanderthal Man?
Was it a major geological/astrological happening? If so, how come Homo sapiens lived and thrived when Homo Neanderthalensis (or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, depending on whether you think he was a sub-species of modern man or a separate species) was lost.
Was it a major geological/astrological happening? If so, how come Homo sapiens lived and thrived when Homo Neanderthalensis (or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, depending on whether you think he was a sub-species of modern man or a separate species) was lost.
The novel dips into the realm of Jurassic Park with the “shock revelation” that pockets of Neanderthal still live on in the high mountains and out-of-reach places in the world, and that some reports of Bigfoot and his kin are mislabeled Neanderthals.
So what DID happen to him? Did modern man engage in genocide/war with Neanderthal? Are we a product of interbreeding with him? Could we have killed all the males and bred with the females, as is common with warring parties? – after all, humans are a violent, sex-mad species.
And suppose.... just for one moment .... that the author is at least partially right, and that pockets of Neanderthal live on. How long before we send missionaries to convert them? How long before they are dragged screaming and kicking into the 21st century? Get their slot on prime time TV? How long before we trade them weapons for drugs, or whatever? Or am I just cynical?
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