Thread by @kjkillackey

Would you recognize a Neanderthal if you met one on the street?

Have a look at my painting of a Neanderthal woman and compare her features to yours. 1/14

#SciArt #neanderthal #illustration #Archaeology #portrait

I had the chance to study Neanderthal appearance while creating this portrait for the Stelida Naxos Archaeology Project (SNAP) @stelidanaxos. 2/14

stelida.mcmaster.ca

SNAP, run by Dr. Tristan Carter @AnthroMac, has found evidence for Middle Pleistocene activity at the chert extraction site of Stelida, Naxos. Mousterian stone tools, dating to the Middle Palaeolithic, suggests Neanderthal use of the site. 3/14

advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/e…

Because the artifacts from SNAP are all chert, we've drawn on data from other sites for this portrait. 4/14

The Neanderthal woman wears griffon vulture feathers in her hair. There is evidence that Neanderthals exploited large birds of prey for their feathers and claws, including griffon vultures (found on Naxos). 5/14

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

She has also added a Glycymeris sp. shell to her braid. These, and other bivalve shells, have been found with perforations at Mousterian sites, such as at Cueva de los Aviones in Spain. Some shells have even been found painted with red pigment. 6/14

researchgate.net/publication/27…

Her face is painted w/ ochre. Neanderthal ochre use has been found in the Netherlands going back at least 200 kya. While there is no direct evidence for body painting, they did use it in liquid form & stored pigments in containers such as shells. 7/14

pnas.org/content/109/6/…

I’ve chosen to use dots and lines for her face paint based on the exciting but controversial dating of cave paintings from Spain. 8/14

nature.com/articles/d4158…

She is wearing a cloak of deer hide. Neanderthals hunted large game & worked hides as seen in tooth & stone tool use-wear. They probably used hides for fitted clothes as protection from cold temperatures & may have even produced plant fiber cords. 9/14

go.nature.com/37wqphC

I visited Stelida in 2016. Here’s the view from the top of the site and another photo showing the incredible amount of chert there. 10/14

For comparison, here’s the first drawing of a Neanderthal from 1908 by Frantisek Kupka, based on Marcellin Boule’s analysis. Interpretations have changed dramatically over the past 100+ years. 11/14

Finally, if you are looking for an engaging book summarizing our current understanding of Neanderthals, track down @LeMoustier’s Kindred, published this year. 12/14

She immerses you in Neanderthal taskscapes & gives you a sense for their rich material culture. She especially brings to life their use of organic materials from the small amount of direct & indirect evidence we have. Plus there are beautiful chapter illos by @alisonatkin! 13/14

If you are in #HamOnt you can order it from @mixedmediashop. That’s where I got my copy. 14/14