The Neanderthal Enigma: A New Theoretical Approach

Graeme Snooks

No 5, GDSC Working Papers from Institute of Global Dynamic Systems

Abstract: The limited material evidence relating to Neanderthal culture has enabled scholars to give free rein to their imaginations in reconstructing the mind and society of this extinct branch of Homo. Despite their remarkable success, the Neanderthals are often characterised as being incapable of symbolic thought, language, and action. Sociobiologists have even suggested that the Neanderthal mind was structurally different to that of modern humans. To provide a realist perspective on the “Neanderthal enigma”, a new general dynamic theory is presented and applied to the available evidence. This new theoretical approach shows that, despite possessing distinct mitochondrial DNA, Neanderthal minds and society were little different to those of modern humans, and that our ultimate success was far from inevitable.

Keywords: Neanderthal extinction; dynamic-strategy theory; evolution; symbolic thought; language; complex systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 B41 C73 O40 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-08
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:auu:wpaper:005

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