Episode 6: The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
Today we’re joined by Prof. Mirjana Roksandic to discuss The Clan of the Cave Bear, a story about a modern human adopted by a clan of Neanderthals. Author Jean Auel did a commendable amount of research for her book series, but scientific paradigms change
Screens of the Stone Age · Josh Lindal, Dr. Kimberly Plomp, and Dr. Ross Barnett
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Show Notes
Today we’re joined by Prof. Mirjana Roksandic to discuss The Clan of the Cave Bear, a story about a modern human adopted by a clan of Neanderthals. Author Jean Auel did a commendable amount of research for her book series, but scientific paradigms change fast in palaeoanthropology. How does the movie hold up 35 years later? Let’s find out!
(Note: this episode contains a brief discussion of scenes depicting sexual violence)
In this episode:
Genetics of skin and hair colour: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2016.0349
Cave Bear cults: https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-cult-of-the-cave-bear/
The Shanidar 1 Neanderthal burial, Iraq: https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/shanidar-1
Clan of the Cave Bear and Feminism: https://slate.com/culture/2014/05/clan-of-the-cave-bear-and-feminism-dystopian-precedent-to-the-hunger-games.html
Human hybridization: Neanderthal mother, Denisovan Father: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06004-0