I find archaeology both fascinating and baffling. Presented with mere scraps of evidence like footprints preserved in ash, archaeologists can sometimes learn so much, like the speed, weight, and posture of the creature that left those prints. Modern archaeologists are adept at repurposing medical scanning techniques and using computer models to determine exactly how each relic was created—a far cry from my kids and me, whose tracking prowess tops out at seeing paw prints on a muddy trail and musing, “Maybe that was a raccoon?”
But also, archaeologists have so little evidence to work with! Out hiking, my children and I tromp across animal tracks—within days, the prints will be totally obscured. Neanderthals lived throughout Europe for many millennia, in conditions that were vaguely amenable to preserving records of their lives, and yet (despite our strong suspicions, since their brains were probably much like our own) we still don’t have...
University of California Press