From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
I was fascinated by the possible funerary practices in hominins previously not considered sophisticated enough for such behaviours. The question as to whether Neanderthals developed their practices or learned them from us is interesting and probably impossible to answer. Either way, it doesn’t detract from the fact that they would need sophisticated cognitive abilities just to choose to engage in such seemingly unproductive rituals(26 July, p 38).
