What do we think about when we think of our Neanderthal ancestors? Chances are we revert to the stereotype of the brutish figure in an icy wasteland. 

Not so, says Rebecca Wragg Sykes. Based on her first-hand experience of cutting-edge Palaeolithic research, her award-winning book, Kindred, sets the story straight, revealing the Neanderthals to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptive. Find out why the Neanderthals were so successful, survivors of over 300,000 years of massive climate change, and why we need to celebrate them as our closest relatives, whose DNA is still inside us. 

We’ll also be talking to Rebecca about her new book, Matriarcha: Prehistory Reimagined, which re-examines our “hominin history” through the female line and is scheduled for publication in 2025. 

Rebecca Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist, author and Honorary Fellow in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. Alongside her academic expertise, Rebecca has earned a reputation for exceptional public communication, with her writing featuring in The New York Times, The Times, The Guardian, Aeon and elsewhere. She is a popular speaker, appearing on programmes for BBC Radio 3 and 4 such as Front Row, Start The Week and The Infinite Monkey Cage, as well as numerous podcasts. Rebecca is also co-founder of the influential Trowelblazers project, which highlights women archaeologists, paleontologists and geologists through innovative outreach and collaboration.