Conan the Barbarian is a striking appearance in a unique context. Even if you don't like the stories, you might find his background fascinating. Read about his universe, its literary significance and the man who conceived it; Robert E. Howard. You get the links to his stories for free! The character…
October is traditionally the month to make ink drawings. That is why a series of ink drawings of dolmens appeared on this site that month in 2020. For 2021 I followed the prompts of the organization that hides behind all that drawing with ink in October. These are on the Inktober site. This yielded surprising results, especially…
Migration is as old as humanity. In that respect, little has changed since prehistoric times. But only recently have we learned the finer things about it. Because until a few decades ago, just about all knowledge on our ancestors was limited to what we could deduce from the discovery of stones and bones. More …
Primal mothers and hunters. The classic story is that humans work so well together because it helps them hunt big game. One individual does not catch a mammoth. This requires a group, coordination, consultation and teamwork. Without cooperation there is no meat and that is why people have learned to coordinate with each other…
Language originated somewhere in prehistoric times. But how? The Swede Sverker Johansson wrote a book about this simple question. His answers are complex, but also interesting. Because when does language exist? Is that as soon as a Neanderthal drops a rock on his foot and says "Ouch!"? Or is there more to it? something like that…
It happened in 1891 and 1892. The Dutchman Eugène Dubois (1858-1940) found human remains on Java at a bend of the Solo River. These shook the academic world to its foundations. Pithecanthropus erectus was the name Dubois gave to the new human species. Others spoke of the Java man. Scientists were divided by this. Why ...
For most of history, people lived by hunting and gathering. For nearly two million years they knew no other way to get food. A little over ten thousand years ago, this gradually changed with the agricultural revolution. First in Asia, then in Europe. Other parts of the world followed.…
As long as man exists, he creates. In fact; the ancestors of man already created. This is apparent from, among other things, stone tools that are more than three million years old. They were found in 2015 near Lake Turkana in Kenya. Who made them is unknown. We do know that humans …
There is no primeval forest in the Netherlands. You will no longer find untouched old nature in our country. It's all gone. Even the Veluwe, the Biesbosch and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug are relative newcomers that arose long after human intervention. You can read below how that is possible ...
It is not always easy to determine what prehistoric art is. The difficulty lies in the meanings of the words "prehistory" and "art." They are far from unambiguous. What is "prehistoric" and what is "art"? Below you can read an attempt to answer these questions ...
Do you know why the term Cro-Magnon man appears mainly in older books? Until recently, I only had a faint suspicion. All I knew was that this distant ancestor was some sort of Neanderthal successor. The difference with modern humans – homo sapiens sapiens – was not clear to me. Now I know …
Britten, invallers en dna Britten zijn van oorsprong continentale Europeanen. Dat blijkt uit DNA-analyses die Stephen Oppenheimer als basis gebruikt voor een boek over de eerste Britten en Ieren. Gezien invallen van Romeinen, Angelen, Saksen, Vikingen en Normandiërs is dat niet verrassend. Wel opzienbarend is dat deze invallers slechts heel beperkt invloed hebben op het…
25.000 Jaar oud, Russisch en nog geen negen centimeter hoog; de Venus van Kostjonki. (more…)
Een toelichting op drie kunstwerken met een prehistorische twist. Ze zijn gebaseerd op het werk van Gustav Klimt. (more…)
Het oerbrein is onderwerp van verschillende boeken. Die gaan vooral over primitief gedrag in onze moderne tijd. Zo niet ‘The prehistory of the mind’. Dat gaat over de evolutie van het brein. (more…)
In Parijs staat het Musée de l ‘homme. Topstuk: De 23.000 jaar oude Venus van Lespugue. (more…)
Het populairste oermens van ons taalgebied komt uit Vlaanderen. Lees hier hoe het zit met Jerom en de oertijd. (more…)
Oermensen – inclusief neanderthalers – figureren in tal van romans. Ik heb een stapeltje romans over de prehistorie thuis liggen. Een overzicht. Net als de meeste lezers begon ik met ‘De stam van de holenbeer’ van Jean M. Auel. Het was het eerste boek voor een groot publiek dat zich afspeelde in de prehistorie. Volgens…
Pablo Picasso bewonderde prehistorische grotkunst. Het verhaal gaat dat hij zei dat we sinds die tijd niets geleerd hebben. Bewezen is dat niet. Wat maakt het uit? Hij zou het gezegd kunnen hebben, want hij vond alle kinderen kunstenaars en had oog voor exotische kunstobjecten. Zijn werk valt niet voor niets deels onder het primitivisme.…
Oertijdnostalgie bestaat. De reden is dat de huidige complexe samenleving ons volledig verwart. In lichaam en geest zijn we namelijk nog steeds oermensen. Dat is de strekking van twee boeken over de prehistorie: ‘Mismatch’ en ‘Waar is mijn speer’. (more…)
English (UK) 
Nederlands