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From: benson@dcdwest.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Re: Clan of the Cave Bear - info request
Message-ID: <147@dcdwest.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Jul-84 13:09:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: dcdwest.147
Posted: Tue Jul  3 13:09:52 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Jul-84 05:18:20 EDT
References: <671@ihuxk.UUCP>
Organization: ITT DCDWEST (San Diego)
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I read the Clan of the Cave Bear and enjoyed it very much.  I
chose to discount much of the speculation about Neanderthal
vocal abilities (or lack of them) or rcaial memory.  The
analysis of vocal abilities was due largely to Philip
Lieberman's work in the early seventies.  This work is based
on the reconstruction of the soft tissues or the head,
particularly the larynx, and their relative positions.
In brief, L believed that the high position of the larynx in N
restricted their abilities to produce a full range of human
sounds.  Reconstruction of soft tissue is probably difficult;
determining the acoustics without actually having the organism
right there is very difficult.  Saying what CAN'T be done is
speculative.  Even if L's speculations about anatomy are
correct, N may have had alternative articulations.

Racial memory smacks to me of Lamarckianism: how can something
a memory acquired during one's life affect the DNA in the
gonads?  I don't see how evolution could work that way.

Anyway, as I said, I liked the book.  The next one, Valley of
the Horses, fell short of my expectations.  Ayla seemed to be
developing technology so quickly that she would be smelting
iron in the next book.  And the romance seemed to hinge on big
things, like breasts and penises.  It all rang a little
false.
-- 
				_
Peter Benson			| ITT Defense Communications Division
(619)578-3080			| 10060 Carroll Canyon Road
decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!benson	| San Diego, CA 92131
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