Killing Their Cousins: The Neanderthals and their Battles with Early Humans

By Tony Howells

The Neanderthals (Nea) became extinct about 30,000 years ago, about 10,000 years after Early Modern Humans (Sap) reached Southern Europe.
This book is historical fiction concerning the extinction of the Nea. The early chapters are about the culture and social organization of the Nea and the Sap. Later chapters describe armed conflict between the Brown Bear tribe of the Nea and the Sap invaders.
The Brown Bears learned their fighting skills from the Nea groups who invaded their land, which prepared them to fight the Sap when they came. Eventually, a group of Sap came onto Brown Bear land, and started to build a camp; the Bear fighters prepared to challenge them. The battles began, and these are described in the final chapters of the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035803804

Tony Howells

Tony Howells retired from his position as a biochemist in 1998. He began writing and produced several short novels and plays. In 2010, he started writing crime fiction and produced four novels published by Kindle Direct Publishing. In 2018, he began this Neanderthal novel. Tony has been interested in Neanderthals for many years, since reading the Jean Auel books. Recently, he has read several other books on Neanderthals, which further stimulated his interest in these people.

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About the Author

Tony Howells retired from his position as a biochemist in 1998. He began writing and produced several short novels and plays. In 2010, he started writing crime fiction and produced four novels published by Kindle Direct Publishing.

In 2018, he began this Neanderthal novel. Tony has been interested in Neanderthals for many years, since reading the Jean Auel books. Recently, he has read several other books on Neanderthals, which further stimulated his interest in these people.

Copyright Information ©

Tony Howells 2024

The right of Tony Howells to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035803798 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035803804 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

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Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge my wife, Carolyn Howells, for her interest and encouragement in the development of this book. Thanks to our friends, Judy Flack, Deidre Henderson, Denise Nicholas and Peter Stewart, who contributed in the latter stages – editing, criticism and proofreading. I am indebted to the authors of some of the books I’ve read about Neanderthal; Rebecca Wragg Sykes (Kindred. Neanderthal life, love, death and art), Claire Cameron (The last Neanderthal), Clive Finlayson (The Humans who went extinct), Dimitra Papagianni (The Neanderthals Rediscovered) and Paul Mellars (The Neanderthal Legacy).

Introduction

Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and humans (Homo sapiens) are closely related and evolved in Africa, direct or indirect descendants of Homo erectus, the dominant Hominin on earth for almost 2 My (Million years). All three species migrated from Africa to Eurasia. It is not clear when Erectus first came but it was early, around 1.9 Mya (Million years ago) with artefacts found in Georgia, South China and Indonesia dating to about 1.8 My. It seems likely there were later migrations. H. erectus was in Asia for at least 1.7 My with the most recent remains found in Java, dated at about 0.1 My.

The Neanderthals had their origin in Africa about 400–600 Kya (Thousand years ago), probably evolving from an Erectus line. About 300 Kya, they began migrations to the Middle East and then Europe. Most Neanderthal sites in these areas give dates younger than 150 Kya but there are some which dates to around 300 Ky. Archaeological evidence points to a major migration of Neanderthal people from Africa to Eurasia occurring at about 150 Kya.

There is much speculation about the origin of humans. A popular view is that they evolved from a Neanderthal line in Africa about 300–400 Kya. Another is that they evolved from H. heidelbergensis, a direct descendent of H. erectus. Humans migrated from Africa for the first time around 200 Kya and it seems certain there was more than one migration in those early times. However, the generally accepted date for the major human migration was about 70 Kya.

Neanderthals lived in Eurasia for more than 250 Ky, from about 300 Kya until they became extinct about 30–40 Kya. No one knows why they became extinct. One theory is that a sudden climate change led to their demise. They and their ancestors would have adapted to life through the shifting temperature conditions of two glacials (the long cold periods of an Ice Age). It is hard to believe that sudden changes in climate 30–40 Kya would have led to their extinction. Another theory is that the humans, who came to Southern Europe about 45 Kya, interbred with the Neanderthals and gradually, over many generations, the Neanderthal physical characteristics and DNA gradually disappeared. We know that Neanderthals and humans did mate and did produce fertile hybrid offspring because our DNA contains between 2 and 4% Neanderthal DNA. Given that Neanderthals and humans co-existed in Europe for at least 10 Kya, this theory does seem possible.

Another theory, more likely in my view, is that humans, migrating south, attacked the Neanderthal tribes as they encountered them, killing those that resisted and driving the survivors off the land. I lean towards this account, considering the historical tendency of human groups to invade and conquer other human groups.

People’s perception of the Neanderthals, since the first skeletal remains were identified in 1857, has changed markedly. Based on the features of those first remains and other material found soon after, they were seen as brutish, knuckle-dragging, cave-dwelling savages with limited intelligence. That popular view of the brutish savage persisted into the mid-twentieth century. Since then, as more material has been discovered about their culture, such as the sophisticated nature of their stone tools, their burial procedures, their care of the sick and wounded and their art (including cave paintings), a modern view of the Neanderthals has emerged. Neanderthals and humans are now seen as close cousins. When they first came into contact, about 45 Kya, they looked different, had diverse cultures but were probably similar in the way they lived.

This story is fictional and describes life in Neanderthal and human camps, before and during violent conflict between the Neanderthals and the Human invaders. I take the modern view of Neanderthals as an intelligent people with a sophisticated culture, similar in many ways to the humans they fought against.

Chapter 1

The Brown Bear Tribe of the Neanderthals

This is a story about the Brown Bear tribe of Neanderthals – who call themselves the Nea – and lived in Southern Europe about 40,000 years ago. Their home is by the Red Deer River near cliffs at a bend in the river. Arlie, now an old man, had been the leader of the tribe and led them during the traumatic period described in this story. This is Arlie’s story covering the events leading up to and including the invasion by humans (calling themselves Sap), who came to steal their land.

Arlie was short but with the strong arms, shoulders and chest, typical of Nea men. He had been a hunter before being selected as tribe leader. He was a serious thoughtful man, well-liked by the people of the tribe and respected by the elders for his decisiveness when dealing with problems. Despite the responsibly of leadership, he liked to spend time with his family and after a good evening meal, loved to curl up in furs with his union partner Tonti.

Arlie’s father, Arlin, was the leader of the tribe for nearly 10 summers (in Nea talk, a Year is called a summer; summer, small ‘s’, is the name for the hot season) until he was killed in a hunting accident. Arlie was 26 summers when he was chosen to replace his father as leader. Arlie’s union partner is Tonti, now the tribe’s first woman and it is more than 20 summers since they paired. Tonti is a strong woman, an expert hunter when she was young, still the leader of the best horse moving unit. She works with Sharma (the Spirit Woman), organising the festivals the tribe have every summer.

Some of the older people of the tribe were shocked when Arlie and Tonti formed a union because Tonti had been a spirited girl when she was young, often questioning the elders and sometimes getting herself into compromising situations with young men. Tonti’s father and mother, important people in the tribe, were concerned about the behaviour of their daughter and worried she would cause endless trouble for the quiet and thoughtful Arlie. But Arlie and Tonti had been best friends since they were children and had agreed they would form a union when they were old enough. Arlie and Tonti had become an ideal couple, each having qualities that supported the other. They produced two children, Nadica (their daughter) and Ardin (their son). Both grew up to be well respected members of the tribe. Ardin is now a scout and away from the camp for much of the summer and Nadica is a leading hunter.

The land of the Brown Bear tribe is beautiful with forests that spread from tall hills down to the river. In the forests, there are Red Deer and Wild Pigs which they hunt and on the plains, there are Bison, Wild Cattle and Horses, which are their main source of meat and Woolly Mammoth, Woolly Rhinoceros, which they sometimes hunt. They gather fruit, nuts, mushrooms and green plants in the forest and plants that grow along the banks of the river by the lake and in the marshes. These plants give them food and medicines. This is their land, the land which their ancestors had occupied going back into the depths of time, perhaps back to the time when Maker (their god) made it all. They care for their land and if they were to lose it, the tribe would die out.

Arlie said, ’For most of summer, people live in

shelters made from tree trunks, mammoth bones and tusks, covered with animal hides. When cold winter comes, we move into caves. Young children and older women, who care for them, live in caves all summer. Older women look after children because fathers and mothers have no time since they must hunt and gather plants to help feed tribe. Men and women hunt together, there is no men’s work, no women’s work and they all gather plants when there is no hunt. Older women care for children but they also prepare food and make simple clothes we wear.’

All people in the tribe must work. Their life is hard and getting food for everyone is difficult, especially in cool summers when fewer animals come to the hunting grounds. Older men, too old for hunting, assist the Stoneman making and mending tools. They also help with the butchering of meat and they teach the children stories and Nea lore. The tribe cannot support old people once they can no longer work. According