Under The Microscope

THE NEANDERTAL ENIGMA, by James Shreeve; Penguin, 1997; 369 pp; $24.95

Reviewed by Peter Hyde

From the title, I hoped this book would provide both an overview of the current state of research into human origins, plus a detailed look at the mystery surrounding both the survival and eventual disappearance of the Neanderthal species.

I was not disappointed. The author has presented a fact-laden story in a highly readable fashion. His text covers the latest findings (some contentious, some not) in a series of disciplines ranging from paleo-anthropology and DNA analysis to linguistics.

Along the way, we are treated to a travelogue which covers many of the key sites for prehistoric research and excavation -- southern France, the Czech Republic, Israel, South Africa, Australia -- even some ground-breaking research in Zaire.

The main focus of the author's efforts is to try and decide what, if anything, defined the difference between early Cro Magnon humans and the Neanderthal population with whom they rubbed shoulders. The evidence for their geographical and temporal co-existence is assessed, as is that which supports arguments that both populations possessed almost identical technology over a huge span of years before the sudden flowering of Upper Paleolithic culture some 40,000 years ago.

That flowering coincided closely with the disappearance of the Neanderthal people, the last archeological signs of which are now dated to around 28,000 years ago -- hauntingly close to the present day, some might say. What led to the cultural explosion, and presumably contributed to the ultimate dominance of the Cro Magnon species, is still well in the realms of speculation, but the author works hard to persuade the reader of his pet hypothesis -- and no, it isn't language.

Peter Hyde, NZSM