Strange Encounter
Ficational Prehistoric encounter.
The Boy Who Met a Neanderthal
A prehistoric adventure set approximately 50,000 years ago.
This fictional story takes place in a region where early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals might have encountered one another. The characters, events and conversations are imagined.
1. Morning at the rocky shelter
The morning sun shone over a valley surrounded by rocky hills, trees and open grassland.
Eight-year-old Taro woke beneath an animal hide beside his family.
He was a young Homo sapiens, belonging to the same species as people living today.
His mother was already preparing breakfast near the fire.
"Taro! Wake up. We have things to do today."
Taro stretched and sat up.
His two-year-old sister, Nima, was awake too.
She had been playing with a smooth wooden stick beside their sleeping place.
Their mother picked up a little animal-hide wrap.
"Come here, Nima. Let's get you ready."
But Nima had other ideas.
"No!"
She jumped up and toddled away.
"Nima! Come back!"
The little girl laughed and ran behind a large rock.
Her mother followed, carrying the wrap.
Nima darted around the other side.
Taro burst out laughing.
"She's hiding from you!"
"I can see that!" replied their mother.
After several attempts, their mother stopped chasing her.
"Oh, very well. You can stay as you are for now, but you must stay near the shelter."
Nima was delighted.
She sat in the sandy earth and began playing with pebbles.
In this warm-weather fictional scene, Nima remained without a wrap for a while. We cannot know exactly how prehistoric families dressed toddlers.
2. Taro gets dressed
Taro's mother handed him a softened animal-hide wrap.
"Put this around your waist."
Taro fastened it with a strip of hide.
He wore no modern shirt, trousers or shoes.
His feet were bare.
The ground around the shelter was familiar, but his mother warned him about thorns and sharp stones.
"Be careful where you walk."
Taro nodded.
He was eager to explore.
But first, breakfast.
3. What did Taro eat?
His mother gave him some gathered fruit and pieces of roasted tuber.
There was also a little cooked meat left from the previous evening.
Taro sat on a stone and began eating.
Nima approached, holding out her hands.
"Some!"
Their mother gave her a soft piece of fruit.
The toddler immediately squashed it between her fingers.
Taro laughed.
"You're supposed to eat it!"
Nima grinned.
After breakfast, Taro drank some water.
His mother asked him to help collect small pieces of dry wood near the shelter.
Instead, he began throwing pebbles at a tree.
Tap! Tap!
One pebble struck a container that another adult had been using.
"Taro!" his mother exclaimed. "Stop throwing stones near people and their things!"
Taro lowered his head.
"I was only playing."
"You could hurt somebody. Pick up those stones and help with the wood."
Taro sulked for a moment.
Then he collected the scattered pebbles and did as he was told.
His mother was firm, but she did not hurt or humiliate him.
4. Exploring the valley
Later that morning, Taro accompanied two older members of his group towards a wooded area.
They were looking for edible plants and signs of animals.
Taro walked barefoot along a sandy path.
His hide wrap moved around his knees as he walked.
He stepped carefully over dry branches.
Nearby, he noticed antelope grazing.
A bird suddenly flew out of a bush.
Flap! Flap!
Taro jumped.
"Oh!"
One of the adults smiled.
"Only a bird."
Farther along, he found an interesting stone.
He turned it over in his hands.
Then he spotted something moving beside a fallen tree.
A furry creature was searching among the roots.
It had a rounded body, small ears, whiskers and large front teeth.
"A giant hamster!" Taro whispered.
It wasn't actually a modern hamster. For this story, it was an imagined large prehistoric rodent.
Taro crouched to watch.
The animal sniffed the ground.
Then it noticed him.
Taro slowly extended his hand.
The rodent gave a sharp squeak.
Taro immediately withdrew his fingers.
"All right! I won't touch you."
The animal hurried into the undergrowth.
Taro followed for a few steps, hoping to see where it lived.
But he had wandered farther than he realised.
5. The unfamiliar child
Taro pushed through a patch of bushes.
On the other side was a narrow clearing.
Another boy was standing beside a rocky slope.
He looked about nine years old.
But something about him was different.
He was a Neanderthal child.
The boy had a broad body, strong-looking limbs, a relatively large nose and a face with a less prominent chin than Taro's.
His forehead sloped backwards more noticeably, and his brow region was pronounced.
His head was not flat. Neanderthals generally had long, low skulls, rather than the rounder skull shape typical of modern humans.
The boy wore a simple animal-hide covering.
He was holding a wooden stick.
Taro stared.
The Neanderthal boy stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then the stranger took a step forward.
Taro became frightened.
He turned and ran.
6. The Neanderthal boy catches Taro
"Wait!" the stranger called in a language Taro did not understand.
Taro ran towards the bushes.
But the other boy was close behind.
Suddenly, a hand caught the edge of Taro's hide wrap.
"Hey!"
Taro stumbled and stopped.
The Neanderthal boy held his arm.
"Let go!"
The stranger grunted and pointed towards the rocky slope.
Taro shook his head.
"No! I want to go home!"
The Neanderthal boy tugged him towards a nearby cave.
Taro resisted.
"Stop pulling me!"
But the stranger continued until they reached a flat area outside the cave entrance.
7. Outside the cave
Taro could see a small fire burning farther inside the cave.
Animal hides lay near the entrance.
Several stone tools had been placed beside a rock.
The Neanderthal boy picked up a length of hide cord.
Taro backed away.
"What are you doing?"
The stranger caught his wrists and loosely tied them together.
Taro was shocked.
"Let me go!"
He pulled against the cord.
The Neanderthal boy gave a short laugh.
Taro sat down on a flat stone, looking thoroughly miserable.
"This isn't funny!"
He turned his face away and sulked.
The stranger laughed again, apparently amused by Taro's angry expression.
Then he pointed towards the cave, made another unfamiliar sound and disappeared inside.
Taro was left sitting near the entrance.
He looked at the cord around his wrists.
Then he looked towards the distant trees.
Somewhere beyond them, his family would be wondering where he had gone.
He sighed.
"I should never have followed that furry animal."
A bird called overhead.
The afternoon sun was beginning to move behind the hills.
And Taro still had no idea what the Neanderthal boy intended to do next.
The End.
A few historical notes
Neanderthal appearance: They had robust bodies, prominent brow ridges, relatively large noses, long low skulls and generally less projecting chins than modern humans. They did not have literally flat heads.
Clothing: Animal-hide clothing is plausible, but we do not know exactly what either group wore 50,000 years ago.
Bare feet: Possible in suitable conditions, although prehistoric footwear may also have existed.
Large rodents: Large prehistoric rodents existed, but the particular hamster-like animal in this story is fictional. Neanderthal behaviour: There is no evidence that Neanderthal children routinely captured and tied up Homo sapiens children. That incident is invented for the adventure, not a claim about how Neanderthals normally behaved.
Human encounters: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens overlapped in parts of Eurasia, and genetic evidence shows that their populations sometimes interbred.
A prehistoric adventure set approximately 50,000 years ago.
This fictional story takes place in a region where early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals might have encountered one another. The characters, events and conversations are imagined.
1. Morning at the rocky shelter
The morning sun shone over a valley surrounded by rocky hills, trees and open grassland.
Eight-year-old Taro woke beneath an animal hide beside his family.
He was a young Homo sapiens, belonging to the same species as people living today.
His mother was already preparing breakfast near the fire.
"Taro! Wake up. We have things to do today."
Taro stretched and sat up.
His two-year-old sister, Nima, was awake too.
She had been playing with a smooth wooden stick beside their sleeping place.
Their mother picked up a little animal-hide wrap.
"Come here, Nima. Let's get you ready."
But Nima had other ideas.
"No!"
She jumped up and toddled away.
"Nima! Come back!"
The little girl laughed and ran behind a large rock.
Her mother followed, carrying the wrap.
Nima darted around the other side.
Taro burst out laughing.
"She's hiding from you!"
"I can see that!" replied their mother.
After several attempts, their mother stopped chasing her.
"Oh, very well. You can stay as you are for now, but you must stay near the shelter."
Nima was delighted.
She sat in the sandy earth and began playing with pebbles.
In this warm-weather fictional scene, Nima remained without a wrap for a while. We cannot know exactly how prehistoric families dressed toddlers.
2. Taro gets dressed
Taro's mother handed him a softened animal-hide wrap.
"Put this around your waist."
Taro fastened it with a strip of hide.
He wore no modern shirt, trousers or shoes.
His feet were bare.
The ground around the shelter was familiar, but his mother warned him about thorns and sharp stones.
"Be careful where you walk."
Taro nodded.
He was eager to explore.
But first, breakfast.
3. What did Taro eat?
His mother gave him some gathered fruit and pieces of roasted tuber.
There was also a little cooked meat left from the previous evening.
Taro sat on a stone and began eating.
Nima approached, holding out her hands.
"Some!"
Their mother gave her a soft piece of fruit.
The toddler immediately squashed it between her fingers.
Taro laughed.
"You're supposed to eat it!"
Nima grinned.
After breakfast, Taro drank some water.
His mother asked him to help collect small pieces of dry wood near the shelter.
Instead, he began throwing pebbles at a tree.
Tap! Tap!
One pebble struck a container that another adult had been using.
"Taro!" his mother exclaimed. "Stop throwing stones near people and their things!"
Taro lowered his head.
"I was only playing."
"You could hurt somebody. Pick up those stones and help with the wood."
Taro sulked for a moment.
Then he collected the scattered pebbles and did as he was told.
His mother was firm, but she did not hurt or humiliate him.
4. Exploring the valley
Later that morning, Taro accompanied two older members of his group towards a wooded area.
They were looking for edible plants and signs of animals.
Taro walked barefoot along a sandy path.
His hide wrap moved around his knees as he walked.
He stepped carefully over dry branches.
Nearby, he noticed antelope grazing.
A bird suddenly flew out of a bush.
Flap! Flap!
Taro jumped.
"Oh!"
One of the adults smiled.
"Only a bird."
Farther along, he found an interesting stone.
He turned it over in his hands.
Then he spotted something moving beside a fallen tree.
A furry creature was searching among the roots.
It had a rounded body, small ears, whiskers and large front teeth.
"A giant hamster!" Taro whispered.
It wasn't actually a modern hamster. For this story, it was an imagined large prehistoric rodent.
Taro crouched to watch.
The animal sniffed the ground.
Then it noticed him.
Taro slowly extended his hand.
The rodent gave a sharp squeak.
Taro immediately withdrew his fingers.
"All right! I won't touch you."
The animal hurried into the undergrowth.
Taro followed for a few steps, hoping to see where it lived.
But he had wandered farther than he realised.
5. The unfamiliar child
Taro pushed through a patch of bushes.
On the other side was a narrow clearing.
Another boy was standing beside a rocky slope.
He looked about nine years old.
But something about him was different.
He was a Neanderthal child.
The boy had a broad body, strong-looking limbs, a relatively large nose and a face with a less prominent chin than Taro's.
His forehead sloped backwards more noticeably, and his brow region was pronounced.
His head was not flat. Neanderthals generally had long, low skulls, rather than the rounder skull shape typical of modern humans.
The boy wore a simple animal-hide covering.
He was holding a wooden stick.
Taro stared.
The Neanderthal boy stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then the stranger took a step forward.
Taro became frightened.
He turned and ran.
6. The Neanderthal boy catches Taro
"Wait!" the stranger called in a language Taro did not understand.
Taro ran towards the bushes.
But the other boy was close behind.
Suddenly, a hand caught the edge of Taro's hide wrap.
"Hey!"
Taro stumbled and stopped.
The Neanderthal boy held his arm.
"Let go!"
The stranger grunted and pointed towards the rocky slope.
Taro shook his head.
"No! I want to go home!"
The Neanderthal boy tugged him towards a nearby cave.
Taro resisted.
"Stop pulling me!"
But the stranger continued until they reached a flat area outside the cave entrance.
7. Outside the cave
Taro could see a small fire burning farther inside the cave.
Animal hides lay near the entrance.
Several stone tools had been placed beside a rock.
The Neanderthal boy picked up a length of hide cord.
Taro backed away.
"What are you doing?"
The stranger caught his wrists and loosely tied them together.
Taro was shocked.
"Let me go!"
He pulled against the cord.
The Neanderthal boy gave a short laugh.
Taro sat down on a flat stone, looking thoroughly miserable.
"This isn't funny!"
He turned his face away and sulked.
The stranger laughed again, apparently amused by Taro's angry expression.
Then he pointed towards the cave, made another unfamiliar sound and disappeared inside.
Taro was left sitting near the entrance.
He looked at the cord around his wrists.
Then he looked towards the distant trees.
Somewhere beyond them, his family would be wondering where he had gone.
He sighed.
"I should never have followed that furry animal."
A bird called overhead.
The afternoon sun was beginning to move behind the hills.
And Taro still had no idea what the Neanderthal boy intended to do next.
The End.
A few historical notes
Neanderthal appearance: They had robust bodies, prominent brow ridges, relatively large noses, long low skulls and generally less projecting chins than modern humans. They did not have literally flat heads.
Clothing: Animal-hide clothing is plausible, but we do not know exactly what either group wore 50,000 years ago.
Bare feet: Possible in suitable conditions, although prehistoric footwear may also have existed.
Large rodents: Large prehistoric rodents existed, but the particular hamster-like animal in this story is fictional. Neanderthal behaviour: There is no evidence that Neanderthal children routinely captured and tied up Homo sapiens children. That incident is invented for the adventure, not a claim about how Neanderthals normally behaved.
Human encounters: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens overlapped in parts of Eurasia, and genetic evidence shows that their populations sometimes interbred.