In an interesting short essay at The Conversation last month, University of Durham Paul Pettitt observed, Despite the fact that we know that Neanderthals were capable of producing jewellery and using coloured pigments, there has been much objection to the notion that they explored deep caves and left art on the walls. But recent work has confirmed beyond doubt that they did. “Were Neanderthals capable of making art?, October 28, 2025 Why was there “much objection?” Did archaeologists feel that way about the Rosetta Stone? King Tut’s tomb? Not that I’ve heard. Pettitt doesn’t quite spell out the nature of the problem but maybe we can help. Briefly, this echo from the past (Neanderthal as artist) is an unwelcome one in some quarters. As I noted here earlier, many archaeologists have long assumed that Neanderthals were less mentally evolved than modern humans. They are quite sure that there has been a long, slow, gradual, and completely natural Ascent of Man from mud to mind. For any such Ascent, someone has to be the subhuman and …