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Neanderthals in popular culture

Neanderthals have been depicted in popular culture since the early 20th century. Early depictions conveyed and perpetuated notions of proverbially crude, low-browed cavemen; since the latter part of the 20th century, some depictions have modeled more sympathetic reconstructions of the genus Homo in the Middle Paleolithic era.[1][2] In popular idiom, people sometimes use the word "Neanderthal" as an insult - to suggest that a person so designated combines a deficiency in intelligence and a tendency to use brute force. The term may also imply that a person is old-fashioned or attached to outdated ideas, much in the same way as the terms "dinosaur" or "Yahoo".[3]

A number of sympathetic literary portrayals of Neanderthals exist, as in the 1955 novel The Inheritors by William Golding, Isaac Asimov's 1958 short story "The Ugly Little Boy", or the more serious treatment by Finnish paleontologist Björn Kurtén (in several works including Dance of the Tiger (1978)) - compare British psychologist Stan Gooch's non-fiction works on the hybrid-origin theory of humans.

Origins

Illustration of a Neanderthal man by J. F. Horrabin, 1923.
Life restoration of a hairy Neanderthal in an American museum during the 1930's.

The contemporary perception of Neanderthals and their stereotypical portrayal has its origins in 19th century Europe. Naturalists and anthropologists were confronted with an increasing number of fossilized bones that did not match any known taxon. Carl Linnaeus' Systema Naturae of 1758, in which introduced Homo sapiens as a species without diagnosis and description, was the authoritative encyclopedia of the time. The notion of species extinction, which would have contradicted the paradigm of an immutable world and its unchangeable species, all the infallible products of a single and deliberate creator god, was unheard of at that time. Most scholars simply declared the early Neanderthal fossils to be representatives of early "races" of modern man. Thomas Henry Huxley, a future supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution, saw in the Engis 2 fossil a "man of low degree of civilization". He interpreted the discoveries in the Neanderthal Valley as within the range of variation of modern humans.[4]

Rudolf Virchow, who nominated mid 19th century Germany biological sciences, described the bones as a "remarkable individual phenomenon" and as "plausible individual deformation".[5] This statement led to the perception for many years in German-speaking countries that Neanderthal characteristics were merely a form of pathological skeleton change of modern humans to come.

August Franz Josef Karl Mayer, an associate of Virchow, emphasized disease, prolonged pain and struggle on comparison with modern human features.[6] "He confirmed the Neanderthal's rachitic changes in bone development[...]. Mayer argued among other things, that the thigh - and pelvic bones of Neanderthal man were shaped like those of someone who had spent all his life on horseback. The broken right arm of the individual had only healed very badly and the resulting permanent worry lines about the pain were the reason for the distinguished brow ridges. The skeleton was, he speculated, that of a mounted Russian Cossack, who had roamed the region in 1813/14 during the turmoils of the wars of liberation from Napoleon."[5]

Arthur Keith of Britain and Marcellin Boule of France were both senior members of their respective national paleontological institutes and among the most eminent paleoanthropologists of the early 20th century. Both men argued that this "primitive" Neanderthal could not be a direct ancestor of modern man. As a result, the museum's copy of the almost complete Neanderthal fossil of La Chapelle-aux-Saints was inaccurately mounted in an exaggerated crooked pose with a deformed and heavily curved spine and legs buckled. Boule commissioned the first illustrations of Neanderthal where he was characterized as a hairy gorilla-like figure with opposable toes, based on a skeleton that was already distorted with arthritis.[7][8][9][10][11]

Portrayals in text

Screenplays and short stories

Novels

Novel series

Comics and manga

Film and television

Video games

Politics

President Joe Biden condemned Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) for ″Neanderthal thinking″ in ignoring health considerations in dropping mask mandates and removing other restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in March 2021.[46][47]

See also

References

  1. ^ "La Chapelle-Aux-Saints - The old man of La Chapelle - The original reconstruction of the 'Old Man of La Chapelle' by scientist Pierre Marcellin Boule led to the reason why popular culture stereotyped Neanderthals as dim-witted brutes for so many years". Smithsonian Institution. January 1908. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  2. ^ Ian Sample (April 30, 2014). "Neanderthals were not less intelligent than modern humans, scientists find". The Guardian. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  3. ^ "Everything you know about the Neanderthal is wrong". Washington Post. June 4, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Huxley, Thomas Henry (1866). On Some Fossil Remains of Man. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b "The Neanderthals | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  6. ^ "Lag Eden im Neandertal? : Auf der Suche nach dem frühen Menschen | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  7. ^ "L'homme fossile de La Chapelle-aux-Saints - full text - Volume VI (p. 11–172), Volume VII (p. 21–56), Volume VIII (p. 1–70), 1911–1913". Royal College of Surgeons of England. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "Marcellin Boule - French geologist". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  9. ^ "Arthur Keith". Royal Anthropological Institute. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  10. ^ "La Chapelle-Aux-Saints - The old man of La Chapelle - The original reconstruction of the 'Old Man of La Chapelle' by scientist Pierre Marcellin Boule led to the reason why popular culture stereotyped Neanderthals as dim-witted brutes for so many years". Smithsonian Institution. January 1908. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  11. ^ Hammond M (1982). The Expulsion of Neanderthals from Human Ancestry: Marcellin Boule and the Social Context of Scientific Research. Social Studies of Science, 12 (1): 1-36.
  12. ^ Wells, H. G. (Herbert George) (1999). The complete short stories. Internet Archive. London : Phoenix Giant. p. 684. ISBN 978-0-7538-0872-6.
  13. ^ de Camp, L. Sprague (1993). Schmidt, Stanley; Greenberg, Martin Harry (eds.). Unknown worlds : tales from beyond. Internet Archive. New York, NY : Bristol Park Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-88486-077-8.
  14. ^ Anderson, Poul (1977). Silverberg, Robert (ed.). Trips in time : nine stories of science fiction. Internet Archive. Nashville : Nelson. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8407-6574-1.
  15. ^ Asimov, Issac (1985). Greenburg, Martin H.; Silverburg, Robert (eds.). The Time travelers : a science fiction quartet. New York : D.I. Fine. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-917657-34-4.
  16. ^ Davidson, Avram (1959). Gold, H. L.; Pohl, Frederick (eds.). Worlds of IF. p. 29.
  17. ^ Howard, Robert E. (Robert Ervin) (2006). The complete chronicles of Conan. Internet Archive. London : Victor Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-07766-9.
  18. ^ Card, Orson Scott (2008). Keeper of dreams. Internet Archive. New York : Tor. ISBN 978-0-7653-0497-1.
  19. ^ Marshall, Edison (1966). Dian of the lost land. Internet Archive. Philadelphia, Chilton Books.
  20. ^ Dick, Philip K. (1986). The man whose teeth were all exactly alike. Internet Archive. London : Paladin. ISBN 978-0-586-08563-9.
  21. ^ Mary Renault (1963). The Bull From The Sea. Internet Archive. A Giant Cardinal Edition ,Pocket Books, Inc. New York.
  22. ^ Dick, Philip K. (1977). The simulacra. Internet Archive. London : Eyre Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-37750-0.
  23. ^ Simak, Clifford D. (1968). The goblin reservation. Internet Archive. New York, Putnam.
  24. ^ CRICHTON, Micheal (1977). Eaters of the dead : the manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, relating his experiences with the northmen in A.D. 922. Internet Archive. New York : Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-04792-9.
  25. ^ Foster, Alan Dean (1987). Glory lane. Internet Archive. New York : Ace Books. ISBN 978-0-441-51664-3.
  26. ^ Attanasio, A. A. (1992). Hunting the ghost dancer. Internet Archive. London : GraftonBooks. ISBN 978-0-586-20836-6.
  27. ^ Turtledove, Harry; Camp, L. Sprague de; Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress) DLC (1988). Down in the bottomlands (and other places). Internet Archive. New York : Baen Books. ISBN 978-0-671-57835-0.
  28. ^ Darnton, John (1996). Neanderthal. Internet Archive. Thorndike, Me. : Thorndike Press. ISBN 978-0-7862-0824-1.
  29. ^ Lambert, Joan Dahr (1997). Circles of stone. Internet Archive. New York : Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-55285-5.
  30. ^ Levinson, Paul (1999). The silk code. Internet Archive. New York : Tor. ISBN 978-0-312-86823-9.
  31. ^ Gear, W. Michael (2002). Raising Abel. Internet Archive. New York : Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-52615-9.
  32. ^ "Darwin's radio | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  33. ^ Baxter, Stephen (2002). Manifold : origin. Internet Archive. New York : Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-43079-3.
  34. ^ Stewart, Ian; Cohen, Jack (2004). Heaven. Internet Archive. New York : Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-52983-9.
  35. ^ Stirling, S. M. (2006). The sky people. Internet Archive. New York : Tor. ISBN 978-0-7653-1488-8.
  36. ^ Adams, John Joseph (July 9, 2013). "Prophet of Bones author Ted Kosmatka Clones Neanderthals in 'N-Words'". Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  37. ^ "the bone labyrinth - Search Results". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  38. ^ "The last Neanderthal : a novel | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  39. ^ [YCDTOTV.com FAQ "31. Which sets were used for YCDTOTV sketches?" - see "The cave" under Miscellaneous sets. Note: do not correct url formatting as per Wikipedia's Blacklist, June 2010]
  40. ^ "AO, le dernier Néandertal - site officiel du film". UGC YM. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  41. ^ Disney, Tim (2019-04-26), William (Adventure, Drama, Family), William Productions, retrieved 2022-01-03
  42. ^ "Titan Quest - Creature Feature, China". IGN. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  43. ^ a b Wainwright, A. Martin (2019). Virtual History: How Videogames Portray the Past. Montreal; Quebec: Taylor & Francis Ltd. ISBN 978-1138069084.
  44. ^ "We decided to settle on the Mesolithic time period" Jean-Christophe Guyot, Far Cry Primal - Behind-the-Scenes Development Video, IGN, October 6, 2015.
  45. ^ Chad Sapieha (23 February 2016). "Far Cry Primal review: Brutal and fun cave man simulation might have been called Grand Theft Mammoth". Financial Post. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  46. ^ "Biden calls out governors who dropped mask rule for 'Neanderthal thinking'". Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. 3 March 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  47. ^ Rahman, Rema (4 March 2021). "White House defends Biden's 'Neanderthal thinking' remark on masks". TheHill. Retrieved March 5, 2021. We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we're able to get vaccines in people's arms. We've been able to move that all the way up to the end of May to have enough for every American to get — every adult American to get a shot. And the last thing — the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything is fine, take off your mask.

External links