tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19921185327160330422024-02-22T22:03:43.783+00:00Song HunterNeanderthals, Art, and the writing of the novel
Song Hunter by Sally Prue
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-52273379719753005872014-07-12T00:30:00.000+01:002014-07-12T00:30:00.070+01:00Young Quill Award Evening<a href="http://www.history.org.uk/resources/primary_resource_7311_189.html">HERE</a> can be found an extra-special review of Song Hunter.<br />
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It's extra-special, first because it's both thoughtful and intelligent, and, second, because it was written by Jacob, who is young enough to one of the people for whom Song Hunter was written.<br />
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<a href="http://www.history.org.uk/resources/primary_resource_7515.html">HERE</a>, written by one of the organisers of the Young Quills Award, is another very kind review. It talks of 'deeply complex subject-matter', and, you know something? When I was writing Song Hunter I spent a long time thinking about the beginnings of creativity, and I'm deeply grateful to know that someone has noticed.<br />
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I received my Young Quills Award on Wednesday evening. Song Hunter won the youngest category, my friend Catherine Johnson was there to receive the senior one, and the only disappointment was that trouble with trains meant that Geraldine McCaughrean couldn't be there to receive her prize for the middle age group.<br />
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The Young Quills Award is run by the Historical Association, which is concerned with history education at all levels. As well as the Young Quill Awards there was a dissertation prize, and various awards of fellowships, and lastly Prof Sir Richard Evans, Regius Professor of History at Cambridge University, was awarded the Medlicott Medal and gave an illustrated talk on the origins of WW1.<br />
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I felt extremely proud indeed to be part of it all.<br />
<br />Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-17499157567576808152014-07-04T15:35:00.000+01:002014-07-08T08:52:32.898+01:00Young Quills Award.I am very pleased and dead proud to announce that Song Hunter has won a Young Quills Award.<br />
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(Please insert some vaguely chimp-like hoots of triumph here, and reflect upon how narrow the gap between humans and chimps is, and has always been.)<br />
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I had a marvellously stimulating and interesting time researching Song Hunter, and I'm delighted that the Historical Association have given the book its stamp of approval.<br />
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I'm going to collect my prize on Wednesday.<br />
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Account to follow!Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-79470790650746469912014-05-31T14:39:00.004+01:002014-07-08T08:52:11.616+01:00Young Quills Award.Song Hunter has been shortlisted for the Young Fiction section of The Historical Association's Young Quills Award. I'm thrilled to bits.<br />
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The award celebrates historical fiction for young people. <br />
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The shortlist is decided by children, and the eventual winner is decided by grown ups, based on the historical accuracy of the story.<br />
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It's terrific to know that Song Hunter's target audience enjoyed Mica's story.<br />
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<br />Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-26058928186286636142014-02-07T15:32:00.001+00:002014-02-07T15:33:20.262+00:00An Inis ReviewThere's a simply beautiful review of Song Hunter by Fiona Kennedy in INIS magazine.<br />
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It can be found <a href="http://www.inismagazine.ie/reviews/book/song-hunter">HERE</a>.Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-42143652603117259222013-11-05T14:46:00.001+00:002013-11-05T14:46:27.900+00:00Carnegie Medal.Well, this is a nice surprise: Song Hunter has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. <br />
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That's not the philanthropic Andrew Carnegie medal for giving zillions to charity, but the United Kingdom CILIP outstanding children's book one.<br />
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It's a great honour, as well as a great surprise, and I'm really dead chuffed.<br />
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Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-78928209028950865652013-09-28T23:00:00.000+01:002013-09-28T23:00:00.629+01:00Review from the Historical Novel Society<a href="http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/song-hunter/">HERE</a> is a very kind review of Song Hunter.<br />
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It's on the Historical Novel Society website, and it's written by Elizabeth Hawsley.<br />
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It's lovely when, after a whole year's work, people read the book - and even better if they like it!Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-5909944405614470762013-09-27T17:28:00.002+01:002013-09-27T17:28:30.354+01:00UKLA news.I'm pleased and proud to announce that Song Hunter has been longlisted for the <a href="http://www.ukla.org/awards/longlists_ukla_book_award_2014/">UK Literacy Awards</a>.<br />
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It's sharing the list with some fine books and some fine writers.<br />
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Song Hunter is very happy to be among them.Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-18806906892618085342013-07-31T15:53:00.000+01:002013-07-31T15:53:04.452+01:00PrehistoriesI've been lucky enough to be asked to do an interview on the excellent prehistories blog.<br />
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If there's another blog where you can find the stories of prehistoric objects in graphic form, I don't know where it is.<br />
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All its many treasures can be found <a href="http://prehistories.wordpress.com/">HERE</a>.Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-88579299817252876032013-02-17T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-17T00:30:00.440+00:00An arrow to the heart.I arrived at the exhibition of <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/ice_age_art.aspx">Ice Age Art in the British Museum</a> full of doubt.<br />
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I wanted to hear voices from far away, from down the long millennia; but I was afraid the ancient sculptures would be dumb and stiff and dead.<br />
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What did I see? <br />
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I saw the delicate step of a questing deer, the fierce low-thrust head of a goose, the arched neck of a proud horse, the massive threat of a bison's shoulders...<br />
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...and more, and more...<br />
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...the stillness and contemplative fragility of women huge with child; the smugness of a well-fed lion; the wide-eyed anxiety of a swimming reindeer.<br />
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Perhaps these things come from a time when all art was true. When all art was beautiful, honest, and yet still full of secrets. <br />
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Imagine a blade of flint perhaps 20 cm long but only 0.6 cm deep at its thickest part. Imagine the delicacy of it.<br />
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Imagine a flute made of a hollow bone, and then imagine music and singing and dancing.<br />
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Imagine a people 40,000 years away and yet close enough to feel their breath on your cheek.<br />
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*************************************************************<br />
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On the way out of the museum we came across a table of treasures the public was allowed to hold. There was a Greek vase made 2,400 years ago; a piece of cuneiform writing (the oldest writing in the world) incised on clay; and a flint hand axe.<br />
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The axe was 350,000 years old.<br />
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350,000 years. Older than my species, then. Far older. It came from the time of the Neanderthals.<br />
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And, oh, but it was a fine thing, carefully made and effective.<br />
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Once more, the millennia melted away.<br />
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*******************************************************<br />
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It's been an honour and a privelege to be able to spend a year in the company of Neanderthal man, but now it's time for me to make my way back to the present, to Homo sapiens and the world we've made for ourselves.<br />
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Many thanks to everyone who's visited this blog (especially to <a href="http://adelegeras.com/">Adele Geras</a>, who has made this blog immeasurably more interesting). I hope the story of our brother human beings has proved rewarding. <br />
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I may post the occasional update here, but from now on I shall be blogging chiefly at <a href="http://thewordden.blogspot.co.uk/">The Word Den</a>. Further news about Song Hunter will be available from time to time at <a href="http://www.sallyprue.co.uk/">www.sallyprue.co.uk</a>.<br />
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May the world turn dazzlingly about you, and may you find a thousand songs of your own to sing,<br />
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Sally Prue<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Song-Hunter-Sally-Prue/dp/0192757113">SONG HUNTER by Sally Prue. Oxford, 2013.</a><br />
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<br />Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-11133026593320743482013-02-16T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-16T00:30:00.117+00:00The art of the Neanderthals.Waiting for a book to be published always seems to take a
long time, and the wait for SONG HUNTER to make it into print has been both
long and anxious.<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>A great deal of research is going on all the time. At any
moment – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at any moment</i> -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>someone might come up with a discovery which
blows the principle behind SONG HUNTER clear out of the water.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>And sure enough...</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>The thing is, a shell has been found in Spain. It does
genuinely seem to have been used to mix up pigments, and it genuinely does have a hole in
it as if for a pendant.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>So, can this be a sign that the Neanderthals had art after all?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Well, yes, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i>,
but it doesn’t necessarily mean it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i>.
Even if the hole was made on purpose then it might have been used to make carrying the shell easier, rather than as a decoration (my measuring spoons are tied together,
for instance, but I don’t wear them to parties).</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>As for the pigment (by which is meant ground-up rock or
crumbled clay), yes this can be, and is still, used for painting; but it makes
rather a good anti-insect coating for hides, too. </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>But I’m still on tenterhooks, here, you know.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-16335926801239287232013-02-15T00:30:00.001+00:002013-02-15T00:30:00.366+00:00The arrival of the modern mind.I'm off to the Ice Age Art exhibition today. It's entitled<em> The arrival of the modern mind</em>, and this is exactly what Song Hunter is all about.<br />
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I shall see a lion headed figure like this:<br />
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<a href="http://donsmaps.com/images23/lionman.jpg" title="Click to see larger image"><img align="left" alt="lion lady lion man" height="600" hspace="15" src="http://donsmaps.com/images23/lionmansm.jpg" vspace="5" width="175" /></a><br />
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which was made while there were still Neanderthals living in Europe.<br />
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I'm longing to find out if it still has anything to say to me, or whether its power is dead and gone.<br />
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Report here on Sunday.<br />
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<br />Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-31431208665197472912013-02-14T00:30:00.001+00:002013-02-14T00:30:02.771+00:00Hot love?The science says that modern humans got together with Neanderthals to have children.<br />
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Whether they loved each other is harder to prove until we comes across some<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Humy Loves Neand</span></strong></div>
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gariffiti.<br />
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But if you're doubtful about the possibility, try watching this:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8rVcC0z3KQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Makes you feel warm all over, doesn't it?</div>
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Hm...that's probably a<em> no</em>, isn't it.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-52136922931779104592013-02-13T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-13T00:30:01.118+00:00A real man?A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real </i>man?<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Scientists aren’t in agreement about much to do with Neanderthals. They’re still even arguing about whether Neanderthals are the same species as modern man: whether they should be called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homo sapiens neanderthalis,</i> or, if they're a different species altogether, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homo neanderthalis.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i>What do I think myself? Well, all I can say is that I feel more sympathy with the Neanderthals of SONG HUNTER than with a lot of people I’ve met; and that personally I’d be charmed and honoured to discover I have a Neanderthal many-greats granny and grandad whose brains were bigger than those of most modern humans and who could do useful and splendid things like making knives from flint, making fur coats from dead animals, and staying alive in a very <em>very</em> cold climate.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-14055224077083414932013-02-11T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-11T00:30:00.172+00:00An evolutionary dead-end.<br />
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An evolutionary dead-end, Neanderthals, weren't they.</div>
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<o:p> Well, </o:p>Neanderthals existed for half a million years. </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>That’s twice as long as we Homo sapiens have managed to
survive so far.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>So. <br />
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Do you think our own species will manage to break the
Neanderthals’ record?</div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-60947963535507079472013-02-10T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-10T00:30:01.729+00:00Vole clocks. Vole clocks? <br />
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<o:p> Oh,</o:p> vole clocks are like moustache ukuleles. </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Well, okay, they’re only like moustache ukuleles in that they remind me I’m living
in an infinitely wonderful world. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> (</o:p>A moustache ukulele is a ukulele with educational pictures of various different
types of moustache painted all over it.) </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Vole clocks are used by archaeologists to date remains.
Voles have evolved at a nice steady rate, and by looking at the teeth of the
voles which are buried at the same level as the remains you can tell how old
everything is.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>And I say to myself...</div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-32146864663820253942013-02-09T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-09T00:30:00.473+00:00Naming the nameless.It’s easier to tell a story if your characters have
names.<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>There were two alternatives for naming the Neanderthal people
in SONG HUNTER: I could either use meaningless words like Kalgot, Bonzol or
Smutch; or I could name the people after things they found around them in their
valley.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>I decided to do the latter, and to make it easier for my
readers to keep track of who is who I decided on to split the names very obviously between
the women and the men. The men I named after animals: Elk, Bear, Lynx, and the
outsider Seal. That was easy.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>The women had to be named after something else - but the
trouble was that they don’t really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have </i>much
else. There is grass and reeds and a few low shrubby trees.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Stars, the sun, the sky, the clouds. Shadows. Ice. Snow. Rocks.
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Plenty of rocks.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pebbles</i> has already
been taken as a name for a stoneage little girl; and Boulder, Flint, Quartz and
Gravel don’t sound much like girls. But there are prettier stones that my
people might have come across: Pearl, Mica, Amber, Garnet.</div>
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<o:p> O</o:p>nce I had their names they began to speak to me.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-12754310552033683912013-02-08T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-08T00:30:00.557+00:00 So how can I come up with new ideas?SONG HUNTER tells the story of a girl who discovers a way to
come up with completely new ideas. <br />
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So if you read the book you’ll know everything
you need to know to become an artist or an inventor.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Then, of course, it’ll just be a question of whether you can
be bothered to do it.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-62339966383836326772013-02-07T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-08T16:16:49.656+00:00Cannibals. I became very fond of my Neanderthals, but I couldn’t ignore
the fact that they had one or two habits which are really no longer acceptable
in the Home Counties.<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Cannibalism, for instance. There are Neanderthal bones which
do seem to have been stripped of their flesh as if for...well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dinner</i>.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>I could have had my Neanderthals constantly at war, but that
would have muddied the other strands of the story. I needed a reason why my
Neanderthals could be cannibals without being savages.</div>
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<o:p> Then </o:p>I remembered the marvellous books by Sir Arthur Grimble about the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and his account of ancestor worship there. Might
not cannibalism be a form of respect shown to an ancestor?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>It’s certainly be a form of practical recycling, if nothing
else.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>I also remembered Douglas Adams’ cow in The Restaurant at
the End of the Universe.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>And between my memories of the books of these two brilliant
writers, the cannibalism of my Neanderthals began to make absolutely perfect sense.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-91742353982165150962013-02-06T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-06T00:30:01.428+00:00The Strongest.<br />
Who’s in charge of your family group?<br />
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<o:p> </o:p><em>Why</em> is it that person?</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Is it the person who earns the most money? The one who cooks
best? Is it the eldest? Or is it the person appointed to the position by custom
- or history - or God?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Or is it the bossiest person?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Or the cleverest?</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Or just the most frightening?<br />
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Who’s in charge? Who's strongest? <br />
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And what will happen when someone else
becomes stronger than them?</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-12448318851210474952013-02-05T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-05T00:30:02.529+00:00What did Neanderthals dream about?There’s a chapter about Neanderthal dreams in the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How To Think Like A Neanderthal</i> by
Thomas Wynn and Frederick L Coolidge.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>It starts from Thomas Wynn and Frederick L Coolidge’s idea
of what dreams are for, and goes on from there.</div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>The idea is that dreams are basically of practical use: you dream
about being embarrassingly naked, for instance, to remind you to put some clothes
on before you go out.</div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>It’s a very interesting idea.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>And for myself, I don’t believe a word of it.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-26620031805541451272013-02-04T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-04T00:30:01.603+00:00Taking notes.I’ve talked before on this blog about research. I write on a
computer, but I take notes with a pencil. It’s still the best technology if you
want to get a great deal of information on a single page – and by far the best technology
if you want to compare three bits of information from different sources.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>The drawback is having to read your handwriting, though. A
scribbled note can degenerate into...well, it can be hard to say what. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wuveless</i> lion?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Wuveless? What’s that supposed to mean when it’s at home? I’ve never
seen a lion with a wuve (whatever one of those might be) but ...well, is it
likely to matter? Can’t I just use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lion</i>
and never mind the wuves?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Hang on, though...is that a u? Or an n? And that squiggle at
the beginning...</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>That might be an m.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Muneless?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>No, no, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maneless!</i> They
were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maneless</i> lions in Mica’s valley!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Phew, it’s a good job I realised: because, let’s face it,
shaking its mane is the sort of thing I could have easily imagined a bolshie
Ice Age lion doing.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Narrow escape from making a horrible mistake there.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-31865919574777164372013-02-03T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-03T00:30:00.408+00:00Warm dark violence.The grassland of Mica’s home has been likened to a frozen Serengeti. There
was plenty of big game, especially in the Spring and Autumn, and some of the
largest and smallest animals might have stayed throughout the year.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Apart from the grazers (the great aurochs cattle, the giant
deer, the mammoths, the woolly rhinoceroses) there would have been predators, too. Lions, there were, as well as wolves and bears (oh my!). As if
that wasn’t enough, there were hyenas, too (most surprisingly in that cold
climate) and smaller fierce creatures such as wolverines and weasels.</div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Mica and her family had lots of competition when hunting for
food.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>They would always, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always,</i>
have had to remember that they were not only hunters, but prey.</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-10828062101600034102013-02-02T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-02T00:30:00.607+00:00The geography of nowhere. I live in the Chilterns, which is a crescent of wooded
hills and valleys in South East England. Mica lived there too, though in Mica’s
time there would have been no trees higher than about thirty centimetres. The windy
hills would mostly have been covered with rustling grass.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>The temperature wouldn’t have got much above freezing until
May.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>In my mind I placed Mica and her family in the valley where
I live now, but time has erased almost every trace of Mica’s world.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>When the wind gusts fiercely, though, I still find myself
listening for the tread of heavy mammoth feet and for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the sounds of the Neanderthal hunters making
their way through the grass.<br />
<br />
What traces of the deep past can be felt in the place where you live?</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-66742713688125387942013-02-01T00:30:00.000+00:002013-02-01T00:30:00.094+00:00How old is madness?I'm sure everyone is familiar with this irregular verb:<br />
<br />
<i>I have an independent mind</i><br />
<i>You are eccentric</i><br />
<i>He is round the twist.</i><br />
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Analysis of the DNA of Neanderthals shows that some of them
did have the genetic marker which sometimes leads humans to develop
schizophrenia.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>The Neanderthals in SONG HUNTER live so close to each other,
and depend upon each other so much: what would happen if the strongest of them
was mad?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>All you could do is humour him.<br />
<br />
But what if the course he is set on is going to lead you to disaster?<br />
<br />
What could you do then?</div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1992118532716033042.post-24423037136379188362013-01-31T00:30:00.000+00:002013-01-31T00:30:02.433+00:00How old is old?On a school visit not long ago a boy told me that fifty four
is, like, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ancient</i>. <br />
<br />
<em> </em>Oh dear<em>.</em> I do hope it was nothing personal...<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> S</o:p>urveys have decided that the beginning of old
age is anything from about sixty five and eighty years of age.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>My Neanderthal band in SONG HUNTER has an old lady amongst
them. She’s called Pearl, and she’s the grandmother of my heroine Mica. Pearl is nearly blind and her joints are stiff. She’s too old to hunt,
though she’s full of life and nobody’s fool.</div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>How old is Pearl?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Well, Neanderthals seem to have grown up a little faster
than Homo sapiens in Western Europe does nowadays. Neanderthals were more or
less full grown by the time they were fifteen.</div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>That meant that I could have a guess at the age of my old
old lady.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>After doing all the arithmetic, it turned out that the ancient Pearl was forty three years old.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pc 0pc 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Sally Pruehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999389456442530903noreply@blogger.com2