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Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Column / Field Trips

Neanderthals: Body of Evidence

Take a tour of the Neanderthal body that pinpoints clues about ancient life gleaned from ancient bones.
By Anna Goldfield
10 Dec 2019
Anna Goldfield is an archaeologist and producer on the Kids’ Podcast team at American Public Media, where she creates music, makes silly noises into a microphone, and writes about science and history for kids of all ages. Goldfield also hosts The Dirt Podcast, a weekly show for all audiences about archaeology, anthropology, and stories from our shared human past.
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As every fan of crime drama television knows, the human body holds a wealth of information about its once-living owner. Flesh and bugs may tell of time of death, but as emphasized in Bones (perhaps the most iconic TV show in this category), the bare bones themselves speak greater volumes. Bone shape and size can often reveal sex and age; bone chemistry and teeth tell of diet and health. Subtler clues can reveal all manner of details: which hand the deceased preferred to use, their access to health care, or even what their voice sounded like. All of this holds true for modern humans—and for our ancient relatives too.

SAPIENS’ archaeologist columnist Anna Goldfield has compiled a head-to-toe tour of the Neanderthal, one of our most famous cousins. Her stories walk us through the body of evidence for what Neanderthal lives were really like as told through their bones.

Against a white background, a figure of a person holding a spear has a skeleton overlaid on it. Seven red circles–numbered accordingly–are placed on different body parts, increasing from head to toe.

Explore the Neanderthal body through the following questions (whose numbers correspond with locations on the illustration above)!

  1. What level of cognitive thought were Neanderthals capable of?

  2. Why were Neanderthals so prone to getting ear infections?

  3. Did Neanderthals have spoken language?

  4. What did Neanderthals eat?

  5. What were Neanderthals’ sex lives like?

  6. Do we know if more Neanderthals were left- or right-handed?

  7. Could Neanderthals run?

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