Podcasts (work in progress)

Podcasts (work in progress)

Thank to Andrew Howley some pdocasts are being done of the Congress.


From the caves and rock shelters of Europe and the Near East, new evidence is emerging that the ancient people we now know as Neanderthals did not simply scrape by and live in a delicate balance between ape and man, but surrounded themselves with creations of art and culture that we used to think were the exclusive domain of modern humans. Join us in conversation with the experts who are making these discoveries and revolutionizing our ideas about the world of NeanderArt. These conversations stem from the presentations and ideas shared at the inaugural NeanderArt conference held at the University of Turin and organized by CeSMAP with the scientific partnership of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO).

Episode 1:
Davorka Radovcic discusses the discovery that the Neanderthals who lived at Krapina in Croatia harvested eagle talons and what it means for our understanding of the artistic and cultural capabilities of these early humans.

Episode 2:
Matteo Scardovelli discusses a decorated piece of ochre from Blombos Cave in South Africa, and questions whether the beginning of decorative mark making is such a significant moment in human evolution, or whether other evidence shows fundamentally “human” behavior as far back as Homo erectus.

Episode 3

Thomas Hughson discusses what Neanderthal art tells us about the internal lives of these ancient people, and what it means for where they fit into our modern understanding of religion and spirituality.