This French-language catalogue has been published for the exhibition Première humanité: Gestes funéraires des Néandertaliens, presented at the National Museum of Prehistory in Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac, France until October 12th, 2008.
The first tangible evidence of human symbolic expression, i.e. graphic...
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This French-language catalogue has been published for the exhibition Première humanité: Gestes funéraires des Néandertaliens, presented at the National Museum of Prehistory in Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac, France until October 12th, 2008.
The first tangible evidence of human symbolic expression, i.e. graphic art, is usually attributed to Homo sapiens, particularly in South Africa starting approximately 200,000 years ago. In light of our current understanding of such matters, however, it must now be recognised that another aspect of symbolic activity seems to have been shared, at least at the beginning, among Neanderthals living in the entire northern and eastern area of the Mediterranean basin. This second aspect, which can be seen through inhumations and other associated practices, is their "religiosity".
This is a fine illustration of the real humanity of individuals who were too often, and for far too long, likened by collective opinion to ape-like creatures; it is also sweet revenge for those who may well have taught modern human beings how to respect the dead.
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