#granpa nandy
About Nandy…
So, I’ve had a few people express that my penchant for calling my neanderthal ancestors uncle or granpa ‘Nandy’ is cute or unique, so I just want to clear up the origins of Nandy, because Nandy is actually the name given to a specific neanderthal by his excavators. This individual is Shanidar 1:
He was one of the earliest neanderthals found outside of Neander Thal itself, and is known for being severely disfigured and disabled, but lived to a very advanced age, for a hunter-gatherer. He was excavated in 1957, and was held at the National Museum of Iraq. Sadly, his current whereabouts are unknown, and he may have been destroyed in bombardments by Islamic State, leaving nothing more than casts of his bones.
Shanidar 1, or Uncle Nandy, is better known in popular culture as kind old shaman Creb from Clan of the Cave Bear, where he is lovingly portrayed as a father figure for the main character, a human foundling named Ayla. In the film version, he was portrayed with great empathy by James Remar. Because of this, Nandy is perhaps the most famous neanderthal individual known to us.
Art links:
Currently in Chicago with @chaotic-archaeologist who caught an excellent shot of me with granpa Nandy at the Field Museum - you can really see the familial similarity
