Saturday, March 29, 2014

Twelve women had also written, suggesting that their husbands were Neanderthals

From a review by Steven Mithen of two recent books on Neanderthals. The final paragraph of the review.
The fascination with who we are and what makes us different from our close relatives, whether extant or extinct, will continue. It is an alluring subject for everyone from the scientist requiring millions of dollars of research funding to those who sit daydreaming in armchairs. Within a few months of the Neanderthal genome being published, forty-seven people had written to Pääbo claiming that they were Neanderthals; tellingly, forty-six of these were men. Twelve women had also written, suggesting that their husbands were Neanderthals. One may well have been my wife.

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