Neanderthal Activities in Caves: Was There a Ritual Dimension?
Author(s): Paul Pettitt
Year: 2018
Summary
We know that Neanderthals used the mouths of caves for habitation, and on occasion buried their dead in such contexts. The behavioural repertoire was recently extended to include the assembly of a circle of stones deep in a cave in France. But can any evidence be taken to imply specifically 'ritual' behaviour? I build here on ongoing collaborative research on the emergence of art, and on wider Neanderthal activities in caves and their environs to address the question as to whether 'ritual' use of caves was specific to Homo sapiens, or shared with our closest sister clade.
Cite this Record
Neanderthal Activities in Caves: Was There a Ritual Dimension?. Paul Pettitt. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 443870)
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Keywords
General
Art
•
Caves and Rockshelters
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Paleolithic
Geographic Keywords
Europe: Western Europe
Spatial Coverage
min long: -13.711; min lat: 35.747 ; max long: 8.965; max lat: 59.086 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 20846