“Neanderthal” is a common term of abuse but should we stop feeling so superior towards our close evolutionary relatives? Did they think like us, even at the abstract level? Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of the “insanely fascinating” Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death And Art tells Ian Dunt what we know about the astonishing sophistication of Neanderthal mind, manufacturing and material culture… and why there are traces of Neanderthal in us today.

“If we could scan a Neanderthal brain it’s very possible we’d see they didn’t think so differently from us.”
“We assume we’re ‘better’ than Neanderthals because we dominated them… That doesn’t fit with the idea of different human groups meeting and interbreeding.”
“We shouldn’t be surprised that we could breed with Neanderthals. They are another kind of human”
“Homo sapiens are weird in the evolutionary tree, with our big balloon heads.”
“Neanderthal women were highly muscled. You wouldn’t want to arm-wrestle them.”

Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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#35: Die Rückkehr der Kreidefrau