The faces of early man

The Kennis twins will change the way we see our ancestors, says Stefanie Marsh, if we're not afraid to look

The faces of early man
(Image credit: Evolution: The Human Story by Dr. Alice Roberts, published by Dorling Kindersley)

IT IS UNLIKELY that you know what a paleoartist is. Furthermore, unless you are either an anthropologist or that rare breed of subscriber to National Geographic who actually gets around to reading the magazine, it is even less likely that you care. But you should, if only because it is a field completely ridden with interesting controversies. Take one example: The first Neanderthal remains were discovered in Germany, in the mid-19th century. For years after that, the general public assumed these creatures were thick, hairy, bull-necked folk, who walked about the Earth on bent knees; only said, "Ug"; and brandished crudely hewn stone clubs.

Now it transpires, after much more research, DNA evidence, and so on, that Neanderthals had brains bigger than ours, although with smaller frontal lobes; were not covered in fur; were probably capable of speech; and carved intricate tools, many of which survive today. The notion that they walked around on bent chimpanzee knees, it transpires, derives wholly from the fact that one of the first Neanderthal skeletons ever discovered had dodgy knees, a defect that scientists were later able to attribute to a bad case of arthritis.

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