Put aside everything you thought you knew about being human. After years of rigorous scientific research, Evolutionary detective Danny Vendramini has developed a theory of human origins, that he believes is stunning in its simplicity, yet breathtaking in its scope and importance. Neanderthals, Denisovans, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens, all share a common ancestor, so we have similar behaviors.

Not only have we had the wrong impression of the nature and behavior of Neanderthals, he argues, but we have been fed sentimental, anthropomorphic images of them as well. Neanderthals, he says, were primitives and would have looked very primitive.

There is no reason to suppose they were clean-shaven and good-smelling. The Neanderthals, he expounds, came from the frozen north-they had large nocturnal eyes and were six times stronger than the average modern human.

His thesis is that many physical, social, and psychological characteristics now seen as uniquely human, are direct results of Neanderthal predation on our ancestors, and the theory will be sure to ignite controversy among any group of people genuinely interested in human evolution.