Neanderthal lifecycles: Developmental and social phases in the lives of the last archaics

Neanderthal lives were not easy, and, given the levels of physical exertion they seem to have experienced habitually, bringing them often into contact with physical trauma, it would not be surprising if such phenomena played a major role in the way in which Neanderthals perceived the world. This is the underlying theme of this paper, which is organized into two parts. Afte r presenting data on Neanderthal ontogeny and lifecycles, an attempt is mad e to integrate these broadly with the archaeological record and interpret b oth in terms of the constitution of society by Neanderthal individuals. In this sense it is in the main a purely interpretive work, representing the a uthor's reading of the biometric and archaeological data. Given that lingui stic and/or external means of information storage and communication were pr obably poor of absent in Neanderthal society, it is suggested that the phas es of the Neanderthal lifecycle and events of physical trauma experienced u biquitously within it played the major role in the negotiation of individua l identities within Neanderthal bands, and ultimately were a major factor i n the constitution of Neanderthal society.