Case Study: Catholic Perspective on Evolution #6

The cave-man myth: Fossil evidence does not speak for itself; it must be interpreted, and this task requires imagination. Scientists at the turn of the century took greater liberties in describing ancient man than their counterparts today would. Their image of paleolithic man has entered popular imagination: a hairy, hunched-over, stupid, and ferocious creature, speaking in grunts and living by violence. Countless illustrations have shown him this way, and still do today in some popular media.

Today's specialists would disavow this image because it does not fit the facts. From fossil evidence alone, one cannot say anything about ancient man's hairiness or intelligence or speech or facial expression or supposed ill-manners. These details were supplied through imagination. The "survival of the fittest" motif called for ape-like characteristics in early man, and these were dutifully provided. The bones themselves said nothing.

One set of bones was significant, however. In 1911, the famous French anatomist, Marcellin Boule, carefully studied a recently discovered Neanderthal skeleton. This specimen was important for it was the firstnearly complete skeleton of an ancient man. Using it, science could understand the details of a typical Neanderthal's body structure.

Boule's reconstruction of Neanderthal showed a hunched-over, misshapen creature with bent legs and face thrust forward, not unlike the stance of a gorilla. This depiction was highly influential for decades thereafter; it was reproduced in textbooks, drawings, and museum displays around the world. But later discoveries of Neanderthal finds cast doubt on Boule's work. Then in 1957, a team of anatomists re-examined Boule's original skeleton and found a serious source of error: the Neanderthal man had suffered from a case of severe arthritis. His stance was indeed hunched-over, but it was not genetic in origin and was not typical. Today, we believe that ancient people walked and stood erect almost exactly as we do.

The image of ferocity was also without factual support. Over the years, in fact, many archaeological sites have shown evidence of cooperation and even compassion among primitive people. Numerous fossils came from carefully prepared graves, some as old as 100,000 years. In several instances, the deceased had been old and crippled (like Boule's specimen) and had received care for years before being laid to rest. In one grave, a youth had been buried carefully on his side, with one arm tucked under his head, as if he were sleeping; in one hand, he held a beautifully carved quartz knife. In another grave, archaeologists found the body of an elderly Neanderthal who had had his forearm amputated years before in his youth. (Surgery 60,000 years ago!) He had been cared for all his life. And in yet another Neanderthal site, researchers found evidence that the deceased had been buried with flowers.

Care for cripples and burial with flowers give a dimension of humanness to ancient man that earlier scientists would have found astonishing.