The Neanderthal Legacy

An Archaeological Perspective from Western Europe

Paul A. Mellars

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 1995
• Print ISBN:
  9780691167985
  9780691034935
• eBook ISBN:
  9781400843602
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: Social Sciences

The Neanderthals populated western Europe from nearly 250,000 to 30,000 years ago when they disappeared from the archaeological record. In turn, populations of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, came to dominate the area. Seeking to understand the nature of this replacement, which has become a hotly debated issue, Paul Mellars brings together an unprecedented amount of information on the behavior of Neanderthals. His comprehensive overview ranges from the evidence of tool manufacture and related patterns of lithic technology, through the issues of subsistence and settlement patterns, to the more controversial evidence for social organization, cognition, and intelligence. Mellars argues that previous attempts to characterize Neanderthal behavior as either "modern" or "ape-like" are both overstatements. We can better comprehend the replacement of Neanderthals, he maintains, by concentrating on the social and demographic structure of Neanderthal populations and on their specific adaptations to the harsh ecological conditions of the last glaciation.


Mellars's approach to these issues is grounded firmly in his archaeological evidence. He illustrates the implications of these findings by drawing from the methods of comparative socioecology, primate studies, and Pleistocene paleoecology. The book provides a detailed review of the climatic and environmental background to Neanderthal occupation in Europe, and of the currently topical issues of the behavioral and biological transition from Neanderthal to fully "modern" populations.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: The Environmental Background to Middle Palaeolithic Occupation
• Chapter 3: Stone Tool Technology
• Chapter 4: Tool Morphology, Function and Typology
• Chapter 5: The Procurement and Distribution of Raw Materials
• Chapter 6: Industrial Taxonomy and Chronology
• Chapter 7: Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence
• Chapter 8: Sites in the Landscape
• Chapter 9: The Spatial Organization of Middle Palaeolithic Sites
• Chapter 10: The Significance of Industrial Variability
• Chapter 11: Neanderthal Society
• Chapter 12: The Neanderthal Mind
• Chapter 13: The Big Transition
• References
• Index of Sites
• General Index