If you are anything like me and are fascinated by pre-history when oversized marsupials ruled Australia and there were multiple species of humans wandering around, then you absolutely must read this book. It’s a magnum opus of the Neanderthal world. It’s like opening up a present of everything hidden in our human world.
Genre: Archaeology, Natural History, Literary Non-Fiction.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
These ‘other humans’ whose lineage suddenly and mysteriously stopped have been labelled by many archaeologists in order to suit the prevailing cultural mores and political beliefs of different times. Yet what are we still to discover? it turns out a hell of a lot!
More than simply a history book, this is a luminous and electrifying book written by Wragg-Sykes who is an exceptionally skilled storyteller. She brings these maligned and misunderstood ‘other humans’ roaring to life through her creative and magical ways with words. As a writer and lover of literary fiction I was gobsmacked by her way of describing the emotional and visceral lives of being a neanderthal along with reflections on the nature of deep time itself, which had me hooked right from the start.
The answer is to begin at the heart and spiral outwards
Kindred, pp. 181
A black carbon molecule
An incandescent ember
An ashy aureole
A lattice of branches
A circle of eyes glowing in the dark
Hearths are archaeological touchstones
They lie at the centre
Where the warp of time and the weft of space connect
Like beacons shining through the fog of millennia and a confusing haze of data, they offer anchor points precisely because they were also the cores of Neanderthal life.
The flowing and fluid style of narrative building draws you into an ancient, foreign prehistoric world of novel-like proportions. From the reviews by archaeology magazines and many well known media outlets at the start, there is a strong sense that the book is academically rigorous as well.
What follows is quite possibly one of my favourite series of words I’ve ever read in my life. Visceral, earthy, ancient, mysterious and tapping into the soul essence of what it means to be a living curious animal, and to be human.
I have other favourite poems by other poets and writers, but this is right up there with them:
Inside the body, the bone
Kindred
Under the skin, the blood
Across the fur, the hand
From the hand, the fire
Before the fire, the wood
Out of the wood, the tar
Held by the tar, the stone
Scraped by the stone, the red
Beneath the red, the shell
Inside the shell, the secret
At the start of each chapter Sykes opens with a deeply evocative, colourful and dreamy description of the daily lives of neanderthals and those other-than-human beings they hunted. This sets the scene in the most profound way. I can’t say I’ve read a history book like this, full of poetic and evocative departures from the norm but this 100% works.
Time is devious. It flees frighteningly fast or oozes so slowly, we feel it as a burden, measured in heartbeats. Each human life is marbled with memories and infused by imaginings, even as we exist in a continuous flowing stream of ‘now’. We are beings being swept along in time, but to emerge and view the whole coursing river defeats us.
kindred, pp.22
Look through the shadows, listen beyond the echoes, they have much to tell. Not only of other ways to be human, but new eyes to see ourselves. The most glorious thing about neanderthals is that they belong to all of us, and they’re no dead-end, past tense phenomenon. They are right here, in my hands typing and in your brain understanding my words. Read on and meet your kindred.
Kindred, pp.19
I cannot recommend this book enough, it is absolutely mind-blowing. If you love ancient history and archaeology then you really cannot miss this book, please read it. I have a bit of a nerdy girl-crush on Rebecca Wragg Sykes now.
About the Author: Dr Rebecca Wragg-Skyes is a well-known and respected archaeologist and author who has an Honourary Fellowship at the University of Liverpool. She is an exceptional science communicator and her work is published in the New York Times, The Times, The Guardian and BBC.
Content Catnip 
I appreciated your exploration of the book’s depiction of Neanderthal culture and its impact on our understanding of human evolution.
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You always find the most interesting books to read and review! I’ve sent you an email, too! 🙂
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Thank you so much Thomas. I hope you get the chance to read this one it’s well worth it! Ok will look at my email
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Nice find! The review offered some fascinating insights into Neanderthal life and their connections to us.
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Having read your blog I think this book would be right up your alley! I particularly loved the evocative literary poetry and sensibilities of this book which is so unlike other history books…more need to be created in this way I think 🙂
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