Hi all, I’m back from vacation! I got plenty of material for blogging, both Neanderthal-Woman-related and non-NW, which I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

For now, here are some whimsical pictures of Neanderthal Woman. This little knitted cave person, custom made for me by a friend a few birthdays ago, turns out to be the perfect mascot to bring along on a trip and pose in various places. She is light, durable and squishy enough to carry in a pocket, and as a cave person, she is an endless source of prehistory-related tie-ins. She recently made the trip across the country and back dangling from my rearview mirror. Thanks, Arelis! NW is the gift that keeps on giving.

NW poses on a bison at Little America. This bison is actually slightly smaller than the aurochs which NW and her man used to kill and eat, back in the day.

It’s hard to tell, but here, she is posing on the back of a Sinclair dinosaur. Dinos power our vehicles, did you know?

Here, NW poses on the “Sky Prowler” puma sculpture found at the Colorado Information Center in Cortez, Colorado. Apparently, pumas are a big deal, symbolically, in the Four Corners region of the United States. I’m still looking into this.

I wanted you to see the puma’s paws, because they are so starry and beautiful.