Rebecca Wragg Sykes

Uses a thematic rather than chronological approach to tell the real and fascinating story of the Neanderthals.

A Note on NamesIntroductionChapter 1: The First FaceChapter 2: The River Fells the TreeChapter 3: Bodies GrowingChapter 4: Bodies LivingChapter 5: Ice and FireChapter 6: The Rocks RemainChapter 7: Material WorldChapter 8: Eat and LiveChapter 9: Chez NeanderthalChapter 10: Into the LandChapter 11: Beautiful ThingsChapter 12: Minds InsideChapter 13: Many Ways to DieChapter 14: Time Travellers in the BloodChapter 15: DenouementsChapter 16: Immortal BelovedEpilogueAcknowledgementsIndex

** WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE 2021 **'Beautiful, evocative, authoritative.' Professor Brian Cox'Important reading not just for anyone interested in these ancient cousins of ours, but also for anyone interested in humanity.' Yuval Noah HarariKindred is the definitive guide to the Neanderthals. Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval.Much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals, and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination, perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality. Kindred does for Neanderthals what Sapiens did for us, revealing a deeper, more nuanced story where humanity itself is our ancient, shared inheritance.