Passage - General Questions

[ltowns1]

Hi, I’m a little confused on what the author is saying in the 1st Paragraph. Is the author saying that because Neanderthals were the first and closest hominids to live next to modern humans and even resembled their lifestyles in some ways, Darwin and other anthropologist believed they their lifestyles resembled that of hominids well before Neanderthals? Thanks in advance.

[Adam Tyson]

That's about right, ltowns1. The author is saying that anthropologists have reinforced Darwin's ideas about prehistoric humans by projecting what we know about Neanderthals into the past, without considering how that past may have been different than the world inhabited by the Neanderthals and by modern non-industrial people. Put another way, these anthropologists have failed to consider important differences between prehistoric environments and more modern ones, and as a result they may have come to some incorrect conclusions about our distant ancestors.

[ltowns1]

Thanks Adam!