Neanderthal Blog from Week 1

Sorry, I forgot to add this post from the first week.

Steven Mithen discusses the capacity of Neanderthals for language and communication and asserts that although Neanderthals do not have the capacity for a spoken language, they can communicate by the use of 'hmmmmm'. Mithen believes that one purpose of this 'hmmmm' communication is to help further Neanderthal culture and way of life. I believe that if Neanderthals had such an immense stability of their culture, there is a possibility that they also had the capacity for some form of religion.

First, Mithen feels that there is an absence of symbolic artifacts in Neanderthal culture; however, there are several contentious artifacts that many believe could be considered symbolic, such as the piece of volcanic stone that resembles a female form or the incised fragment of bone that has marks resembling a symbolic code. The use of these artifacts could have been for a religious purpose, or the artifacts themselves could have been symbolic of some sort of higher power.

Another argument for Neanderthal religion is the possibility of rituals. There are large quantities of stone nodules containing mineral manganese dioxide, which is believed to have been used for body painting. It is possible that this could indicate proof of religious rituals. Another ritual could have been animal sacrifice. There are several examples of planned mass animal slaughter, such as at Mauran or Combe Grenal. A final ritual could have been the Neanderthal performances. Mithen discusses the possibility of singing and dancing performances that could have been put on because of the presence of large open "empty spaces" within the caves. It is possible that these performances were used as religious rituals.