Palaeolithic Art & Neanderthals: Were they clever enough? PART II - Lithics, Burials, Symbolic Ornamentation

Abstract

Who were the Neanderthals and what forms of symbolic material culture did they engage in? Part II provides a further historical background and overview of research over the past two decades on Neanderthals symbolic material culture to support the discussion in Part I (Adoranten 2024) on whether they had cognitive ability. No one disagrees that Neanderthals are not us- they are not the same as Homo sapiens. The question of cognitive ability centers on how Neanderthals are fundamentally different. Within that lies a cognitive process involved in knowing the needs, sources, or planning for tool making, mortuary practices, fishing-hunting-gathering for food, personal adornment, or making images on cave walls. It is important not to define humanity as one homogenous group or to confine the definition of mind as something encased in the brain: Both limit our understanding of ‘other’ cultures. Research points to a Middle Palaeolithic transformation that led to an increase of symbolic material culture in the Upper Palaeolithic- not the beginning of it, suggesting Neanderthals were clever enough to create markings on cave walls.