Monday, May 16, 2011

neandertals maligned

I had my students read Gifford-Gonzalez (1998) and write a short reflective essay on the role of popular culture in shaping our ideas about early human ancestors. I asked them if they had ever seen a museum display, cartoon, or film about human evolution, and how they felt this affected their perspective on our ancestors. My favorite answer started with these lines:

I can only assume you are referring to the documentary series "Jersey Shore" that portrays an early Neandertal community in its quest for food, shelter, and whatever the hell "smoosh-smoosh" is. (I'm not an anthropologist.)


Funny, but perhaps I need to make them read Speth 2004, too.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane
1998 The Real Flinstones? What Are Artists' Depictions of Human Ancestors Telling Us? In Selig, Ruth Osterweis and Marilyn R. London, Anthropology Explored: The Best of Smithsonian AnthroNotes, p.74-82. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.

Speth, John D.
2004 News Flash: Negative evidence convicts Neandertals of gross mental incompetence. World Archaeology 36:519-526.
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2 comments:

  1. melissaMay 16, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    That essay sounds awesome!

    In all seriousness, it sounds like a great assignment. Do you mind emailing me a copy of the Gifford-Gonzalez reading? (Melissa.Kruse at asu.edu). Next semester I am teaching an introductory course that uses movies and television to teach anthropology and I think this reading would work well. I was planning a similar exercise asking students to reflect on how neanderthals and early humans are portrayed in popular film and how that matches or conflicts with anthropological research

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  2. PalimpsestMay 16, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    Sure thing! The essay is mostly about museum depictions, but it has a lot of good stuff. I'll send it over.

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