Neanderthal art and the problem of ethnocentrism

Abstract

The recognition of artistic expressions coming from the Palaeolithic has always been skewed towards the acknowledgement of our species as the sole superior maker. This is due to the double standard applied to the Palaeolithic archaeological research, for which similar material evidence from Modern Human and Neanderthal contexts are interpreted differently because different levels of cognitive abilities are attached to different human species. This biased understanding of the deep past comes from a mindset derived from the ‘colonial thought’ that steered (and regrettably often still steers) Western political, social, and scientific agendas. Colonialism implies the owning and the refusal of knowledge and culture of the Other by the superior Western knowledge system. Colonialism is here understood as the product of a universal Ethnocentrism, proper of the human mind. In this paper, a review of the state of knowledge and debates around Neanderthal modernity is presented by using Middle and Upper Palaeolithic artistic expressions as a case study. Ultimately, a more relativistic theoretical framework is proposed to move beyond futile discussions around hominins’ complexity of thoughts and behaviours. Understanding that our species stands not alone on a higher evolutive step can help archaeology (and also other sciences involved in the study of the deep past) move forward and beyond its boundaries, by re-evaluating and questioning old interpretations and hypotheses, products of an ethnocentric mindset.