Neanderthals: A History of Interpretation
@article{Drell2000NeanderthalsAH, title={Neanderthals: A History of Interpretation}, author={Julia R. R. Drell}, journal={Oxford Journal of Archaeology}, year={2000}, volume={19}, pages={1-24} }
Summary. This paper investigates the history of Neanderthal construction in different domains of social life and media. It establishes three broad tendencies within Neanderthal reconstructions: following the expulsion of Neanderthals from ‘humanity’ in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, the 1950s are characterized by a shift in this perception. From then, Neanderthals appear as essentially human creatures trapped in archaic bodies. Following this initial ideological…
26 Citations
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Much of the scientific controversy surrounding the first recognized Neanderthal centred on questions of methodology and practice, and this will contribute to a growing historical recognition of the complex exchange between disciplines including geology, archaeology and comparative anatomy in the early study of fossil hominins.
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