The moon had risen again, still round and bright, providing just the right ambiance for the wolves to sing by. Their distant howls rent the air and made the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. The wind had come around to blow out of the south, bringing with it a warm moist air, but it was from the wrong direction to provide any telltale odors that would give any indication that we were drawing nearer to our quarry. The gusting breezes shook the tree branches making it more difficult to distinguish sounds from one another. Still, there was nothing to do except to put one foot in front of the other and hope that we would not go from being the hunters to the hunted. We were grateful for the night’s deep shadows. Since we suspected we were quite close to Snow Leopard and his group, we evaded the moonlight, slipping from one puddle of darkness to the next. As we came to an open spot in the path, we paused for a drink of water and to rest for a moment. We had not spoken or eaten in some time. Puh broke out his nearly empty food bag and gave Black Wolf and me a little dried meat and a few shelled nuts that he found rolling around at the bottom of the sack. As I ate, I rubbed at my burning eyes; they ached from staring so hard at the darkness and from being awake for so long, but the salt from the sweat on my hands made my eyes burn even more.
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Dreamer Literary Productions is pleased to announce that The Dreamer VII ~ The Challenge Circle is now officially released, in Ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats!
The epic Ice Age adventure continues with this latest installment. Did you ever wonder what life was like for those who walked the Earth before us? Dreamer Books opens a literary portal to life during the last Glacial Maximum, what with all its challenges and drama, while simultaneously instilling an enduring sense of wonder at the resiliency and resourcefulness of our ancestors. The ongoing story celebrates the human spirit, and illustrates however much the settings may differ, people have little changed over the eons.
Seven years ago, my imagination opened a portal to an ancient landscape. Layers of time peeled away, and I was thrust into the consciousness of one who had lived in a time and place now lost to memory. This Neanderthal man and the epic adventures that make up his life’s story may be fictional, but as I write his experiences it feels as though I am recording actual history, rather than composing a literary work. Bringing to life the peoples and cultures of Ice Age Eurasia has enthralled and inspired me, and I can’t help but think I will miss being immersed in their world when the series is complete.
(Header image credits: book cover photo by Paula Kugerud Photography, Venus figurine pendant and lithics by Neanderthal Joe. Header photo and blog photo by E. A. Meigs)
This hour-long podcast is well worth your time: Anthony Yokolano from The Neanderthal Mind digs deep into mankind’s ancient past in this interview with Neanderthal Joe. (What a nice surprise to hear my name and my books mentioned during the discussion! Thanks for the plugs, Anthony and Neanderthal Joe!)
The realm of Paleoanthropology is a relatively small one, therefore those of us immersed in this field often know one another, at least by name. I have followed many such experts over the decades, but it’s not often you find one who not only delves into the science, but also explores the practicalities and skills needed by early humans as they struggled to survive in a harsh world.
Mousterian blade on a centripetal core.
For the last ten years, Neanderthal Joe (AKA, Joe Lawlor) has made a study of the Neanderthal. During this time, Neanderthal Joe has put his knowledge to good use and taught himself how to knap stone, haft knapped stone to spears shafts and handles, made useable items from animal pelts and hides, created Venus figurines, made cordage, glues, distilled birch bark tar and oil, practiced several methods of making fire, and much, much more – all using authentic primitive tools and techniques. Neanderthal Joe’s works have found homes with collectors all over the world. Some of his lithics can be seen on display on display atthe Etta C. Ross Memorial Library Museum in Blue Earth, MN.
Neanderthal tools racloir, hand-axe, Levallois core. (Made from cobble of Georgetown flint by Neanderthal Joe.)Mousterian blades, Joe’s replica (r) compared to an authentic Mousterian blade (l) made by a Neanderthal 60-70 thousand years ago.
Neanderthal Joe shares his passion for learning about our ancient ancestors with his followers. (A list of his platforms will be included at the end of this post.) You can watch some of his many YouTube videos (below), to get an idea of the scope of his work.
Video showcasing a Neanderthal tool kit.
Neanderthal Joe’s “Venus of Antler River”.
Spears made by Neanderthal Joe.
Venus figurine.
Again, these images and videos give just an inkling of Neanderthal Joe’s body of work and he is constantly adding to this impressive portfolio. If you are interested in ancient life skills and paleoanthropology, check out his platforms; he provides valuable insight into the lives of our ancestors.
It’s always gratifying to receive a reader review of my books, but especially so when the reviewer has Neanderthal Joe’s level of expertise on the Neanderthal and the details of their lives. A while ago, Neanderthal Joe very generously submitted a review of my first three books. (When I wrote to say thank you, I took the opportunity to ask his permission to do a blog about him and he kindly agreed!) I had to edit his review to fit into the Reader Review page format, so here it is, in it’s entirety.
As someone that struggles at keeping focus while reading, this series has been an absolute trip! I knew it was a great series when I finished the first book in 3 days (something that is rare for me); the entire time I was reading book one I was “on my toes” excited for the next page and the next chapter, the characters are very likeable and are very relatable. The story is captivating and keeps the reader drawn in, the story is not the typical point A to point B story it is a well thought out TRUE ice age adventure! When I come home from work instead of settling down and hopping on a game or mindlessly watching tv I now open a new chapter from the book anticipating where the adventures of Tris, Black Wolf and Tor goes. I am very excited to see where the wonderful author takes the series and will continue to read. Thank you for making a beautifully crafted story with elements from the real world. While reading you can picture the characters on their journey and that is better than any tv show or movie.
If a real world Neanderthal recommends this series that should be the sign that you should check it out from Neanderthal Joe!
Venus figurines have been discovered throughout much of Eurasia, most dating between 11,000 to 40,000 BCE*. These saucy ladies have been the subject of much study and conjecture. Were they fertility symbols? Some sort of Mother Earth/Mother Nature goddesses? Or were they merely meant to depict womanhood in full flower (so to speak); a visual testimony to the artist’s admiration for the female form in all her glory? We can only guess, but it is fun to speculate on the motive(s) and mindset(s) of their creators.
Eurasian Cave Lion (Illustration credit: Dreamer Books: An Ice Age Saga, by E. A. Meigs)
The Eurasian Cave Lion(Panthera spelaea) is known to us mostly through its fossilized skeletal remains and the exquisitely detailed imagery left behind by early humans on cave walls. The fossils tell a tale of a large predator, somewhat bigger than today’s African lions. They may have been as much as 11 and a half feet in length from their nose to the tip of their tail, and reached weights of up to 880 pounds. Male cave lions are depicted without manes in cave art. Some of the ancient paintings seem to show faint striping on parts of the cave lion’s body.
These impressive animals are included in several of the Dreamer Book Series: An Ice Age Saga novels; as they surely would have been well known to Ice Age humans and been a source of awe and -at least occasionally- terror, to those who encountered them. This versatile and fearsome hunter was known to inhabit most of Eurasia and the very northwestern parts of the North American continent.
In 2015 two cave lion cubs were discovered where they had been buried in a landslide in Siberia, and were preserved in permafrost for tens of thousands of years. The approximately two week old kittens were were an astounding find and have done much to contribute to our understanding of these animals. A well-preserved third cub, about six to eight weeks old at time of death, was also found in permafrost in 2017. Lastly, a fourth cub was located in 2018. It was found near the 2017 cub; close enough to make scientists think that it might have been a sibling. There is speculation that future digs might reveal the existence of more siblings, or possibly even the remains of the cubs’ mother.
The most recent Eurasian cave lion remains have been dated to about 14,000 years *BCE. They are believed to have gone extinct by 10,000 years *BCE.
The Woolly mammoth was a large animal that lived in Eurasia and North America. It was similar in size to today’s African elephants, but with considerably longer tusks, a shorter tail, and much smaller ears. The bulls could be up to 11 feet high at the withers and weigh over 12,000 pounds. Cows were somewhat smaller, but still impressive in size at up to 9 1/2 feet at the withers and weights of up to 9000 pounds. Their furry hides came in a wide range of colors from blond to brown. Individual strands of the outer guard hairs could be as much as 42″ long.
Most mammoths are believed to have gone extinct near the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 ago, but some are thought to have eked out an existence on Wrangle Island until about 4000 years ago.
The Dreamer is a series of novels that follows the life of a young Neanderthal man, Tris (the Dreamer), his father Tor, and their Cro-Magnon friend and neighbor, Black Wolf. At the time of the Earth’s last Great Glacial Period, Europe was inhabited by at least two peoples: the Neanderthal and the Cro-Magnon. Although this primitive world was filled with a harsh and stunning beauty, it was also a brutally difficult period in mankind’s history. Humans struggled to survive against the dangers posed by an inhospitable climate and their perilous position within nature’s food chain. As the story unfolds, Tris’s dreams figure prominently, but it is really an ongoing adventure that revolves around family, friendship, love, social conflict and endurance against the odds.
A new Dreamer book will be released each fall until the saga has reached its conclusion. At this writing, a minimum of six books are planned, but there will likely be many more.
The Dreamer: Just before dawn on a cold spring morning, a young Neanderthal man awakens from a strange and frightening dream that will change his life forever…
