Flowers for the Tiger

Björn Kurtén's novel Dance of the Tiger has some vivid scenes of interaction amongst Neanderthals, in which great care is taken in language to show courtesy and avoid conflict. It was a creative expression developing from feelings that had developed in his mind over a lifetime of studying the remnants of ancient societies. Supporting evidence for this comes from social anthropology, where structures in the society of archaic cultures today seem to concur with the picture formed by Björn Kurtén. This also agrees with Gregory Bateson's concept of schismogenesis, where he looked at patterns of interaction in human society which can escalate into conflict, and at deeply rooted methods of damping them down before they develop.