THE RESEARCHER AND WELL-KNOWN BRITISH SCIENCE WRITER REBECCA WRAGG SYKES CHOOSES THE MEH TO PRESENT HER BOOK 'KINDRED' IN SPAIN

The presentation of the book will take place on Thursday, October 14, at 8:00 p.m. in the Museum's Events Room. The British writer will be presented by the scientific director of the MEH, Juan Luis Arsuaga, and the director of the CENIEH, María Martinón. The meeting can also be followed on the Museum's YouTube channel.

 

Source: MEH

 

The researcher and well-known science writer Rebecca Wragg Sykes (London, 1981) has chosen the Museum of Human Evolution to present her latest book 'Kindred. Neanderthal life, love, death and art' in Spain. The presentation will take place on Thursday, October 14, at 8:00 p.m., in the Museum's events room and is being carried out in collaboration with the publishing house 'Planeta'. Those interested can reserve their ticket at the Museum reception desk or by calling +34 947421000. Ticket cancellation must be made, at the latest, one day before the start of the event, at the Museum reception.

 

Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have gone from being seen as the underdogs on the human family tree to being considered top-grade hominids. In this essay 'Kindred', Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses cutting-edge research on the Paleolithic era to abolish stereotypes about our "distant cousins" and reveals Neanderthals as curious and intelligent humans, knowledgeable about their world, with technological creativity and the ability to adapt to the environment, who managed to survive more than 300,000 years, going through times of colossal climatic disturbances.

 

In the last three decades, research on Neanderthals has multiplied. A succession of extraordinary finds hit the headlines, radically changing our understanding of where and when they lived, how they used tools, what they ate, and the symbolic dimension of their world. And the most amazing thing: love stories between species are extracted from insignificant bone fragments, and a small spoonful of earth from a cave can produce complete genomes.

 

These pages paint a 21st-century portrait of Neanderthals: depicting them not as underdogs on a fragile branch of the family tree, but as highly adaptable and even successful ancestors. It is a deep and surprising text that will capture the reader’s attention from the beginning, awakening or feeding their interest in these beings and the transcendental questions that their existence poses: who we are, where we come from and where –perhaps– we are heading.

 

This book is for those who have heard of Neanderthals and those who have not; to the vaguely interested and the expert amateur; even the lucky scientists involved in research on their ancient world.

 

It is also an open door for discussion and debate, aimed at both laymen in the field and scientists who tackle an increasingly overwhelming task, with surprising new discoveries, which can cause detours and even 180-degree turns.

 

About the Author

 

Rebecca Wragg Sykes has been fascinated by the vanished worlds of the Pleistocene ice ages since childhood, and this interest has continued throughout her scientific career dedicated to investigating the most enigmatic of all: the Neanderthals. Aside from her academic proficiency, Rebecca stands out for her exceptional gifts of communication. Her work has been published in The Guardian, Aeon and Scientific American, and she has appeared on BBC Radio 4 history and science programmes. She works as an archaeologist and creative consultant, and was a co-founder of the influential Trowel - Blazers project, which highlights the role of women in archaeology and earth sciences.