The Neandertal Enigma : Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins (Paperback)

by James Shreeve (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Neandertals, early humans who appeared first in Europe about 150,000 years ago, were not brutish primitives, as was long believed, but strong, intelligent hominids who crafted sophisticated stone tools. Shreeve, coauthor with famed paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson of Lucy's Child, pieces together an absorbing speculative portrait of Neandertals, buttressed by interviews with geneticists, anthropologists and archeologists in France, Israel, Zaire, South Africa and the former Czechoslovakia. He suggests that Neandertals possessed rudimentary language and recognized nature spirits but that the males and females lived apart, mateless. By contrast, early modern hunter-gatherers evolved a "sex contract" whereby women secured for themselves the continuing economic services of a spouse. Shreeve also ponders why Neandertals dwindled to extinction around 30,000 years ago, after apparently coexisting with more anatomically advanced humans for tens of thousands of years in the Near East. He deduces that language played a key role in the intergroup cooperation that led to Upper Paleolithic humans' sudden creative explosion in symbol, art and technology some 40,000 years ago.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Searching for the relation between those muscle-bound, thick-browed, knuckle-dragging neandertals (author's spelling) and Homo sapiens, science journalist Shreeve traveled the world but found no certainties. Instead, he discovered raging academics carrying on their controversies with bare-knuckle intensity. At stake is an explanation of why the neandertals disappeared about 35,000 years ago: Were they wiped out by humans streaming out of Africa, or did the two groups meld into each other? Known as the replacement-versus-continuity debate, its resolution depends on inferences made from fossils, artifacts, and DNA analysis, which Shreeve clearly and enthusiastically explains, based on talks with experts at the principal dig sites. Following his informed speculation about what might have characterized the neandertal-human encounter in the Levant and in Europe, readers will conclude that Shreeve favors continuity. In such a fluid field, where a new discovery can upend everything, as did the "Lucy" fossil about which he previously wrote (Lucy's Child, 1989), Shreeve's guarded views should appeal to readers seeking a solid overview of humanity's possible neandertal ancestry. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 369 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380728818
• ISBN-13: 978-0380728817
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #215,316 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ENLIGHTENING ACCOUNT ..., October 25, 1999

By	TED B. (MARYLAND) - See all my reviews

Reading Shreeve's book is like listening to a PBS nature program on TV and not watching it. You hear interviews of famous anthropologists and then scenes of students digging at Neandertal sites or currators showing types of skulls to the author.

Shreeve does not "tell us" what to believe; his process is to "reveal" opposing thoughts and somehow let us decide for ourselves. The author lets the story revolve around two subjects that I, the reader, was really interested in: (1) who the heck were the Neandertals and did they die out, or did they mix in with the Cro-Magnon people; and (2) is there anything to the Eve hypothesis, and when did this lady start us.

The author generally lets you hear one side of the story, then the other on the Neandertals and on Eve. As he progresses it all begins to seem clearer and clearer, and actually quite interesting. The impression I received, as a reader, was, yes, there were Neandertals and they died out and did not mix in in any permanent way with the Cro-Magnons; and, yes, there is an Eve somewhere out there and she is not that far off in time.

The way Shreeve writes certainly keeps the readers interest and attention, even though he deliberately lets one scientist influence the reader one way and then another scientist turn the reader another way. It is like a book of discovery which makes the reader think and not just read.

I enjoyed reading this book, and may reread it again later to see if I missed something!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book worth for those interested in human evolution, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

I really enjoyed this book. I am a meteorologist with an interest in evolution in general. The sections on DNA and how to trace our roots was fascinating. The book is written from a story telling perspective as the author attempted to put together a picture of how "we" evolved. The author showed how different scientific disciplines have converged on some key concepts about our evolution. What better way to improve and build upon a theory. Like all science, it pays to be skeptical at times. The author presented the case for our evolution from several perspectives. The center piece was the Neanderthal man, how like us, share a common ancestor in homo erectus, as I understood the book. As a kid I read about human evolution and was surprised how the theories of what species are in our lineage have changed. The fact that different species of "homo" co-existed is fascinating. The fact that our early ancestors co-existed for thousands of years was also interesting. I found it tragic to see how the Neanderthal's attempted to emulate us before flickering out of existence about 28K years ago. The DNA evidence suggesting an out of Africa evolution was probably a key underlying theme to the book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimations of our distant past, August 21, 2002

By	Alina Tjeknavorian (Armenia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

During the great space race of the cold war, Sergei Korolev, the visionary architect of the failed Soviet lunar program, included a writer as an essential part of any expedition to the moon, displaying an informed sensibility of the role of artists in interpreting the philosophical impact of science for the masses. In the spirit of Korolev's unrealized, intrepid writer, James Shreeve explores the enigmatic rise and fall of our vanished first cousins, the Neandertals, and their significance in understanding the origins of modern humans. Shreeve's work on the subject is distinctive for its highly engaging pace and style, reading like a sprawling, pan-millennial detective story, but ultimately, it is his own speculation on the nature of Neandertal consciousness - well deserved after so much exhaustive research - that makes this work such an essential read. After an absorbing globe spanning search for clues, Shreeve's odyssey though the ever shifting revelations and counter-revelations of the scientific community culminates in the brave, intuitive synthesis of facts and mysteries that is the calling of a great writer, revealing the philosophical - and spiritual - dimensions of our interest.

Shreeve's roots are in fiction, and his novelistic sensibilities are what bring this story alive. The Neandertal Enigma is testament to how essential the poetic perspective is in divining the deeper implications of science for our own self-understanding.