A POWYS based author has won a slew of awards and honours for her latest book.

Rebecca Wragg Sykes, from Leighton, has been awarded the annual PEN Heessell-Tiltman Prize of 2021 for her book, Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art.

The Prize of £2,000 is awarded annually, celebrating the best non-fiction book on any historical subject.

As well as the Hessell-Tiltman Prize, Kindred: Neanderthal life, Love, Death and Art was selected by the New York Times as one of 100 Notable Books of 2021, announced on November 23. It also won Current Archaeology’s Book of the Year award.

The book explores our developing understanding of Neanderthals, from the cliches of rag-clad savages in icy caves to viewing them as curious intellects, examining a species that managed to thrive for 300,000 years.

With a background in archaeology, Rebecca Wragg Sykes moved to Powys in 2018.

She said of the area: “Living in Powys as an archaeologist is a dream come true. The Neanderthals were amazingly flexible as a species and lived during warmer climates like today's as well as colder ice ages, so being surrounded here by trees, streams, hills and wildlife creates so much inspiration for me.

“They were in Wales at least 270,000 years ago at Pontnewydd Cave, Denbighshire, and even if the landscapes have changed through time, they are part of the deep heritage here.”

Regarding the Hessell-Tiltman prize, she said: “The shortlisting of Kindred was a wonderful surprise, but to be selected as the winner from among such exceptional finalists is truly stunning. I am thrilled that the judges recognised Neanderthals as a captivating part of human history on their own merit, rather than a mere prelude to Homo sapiens.

“Writing Kindred was a true labour of love. Producing a definitive, modern account covering over 300,000 years of archaeology and 165 years of scholarship was daunting, but also a dream project. My aspiration was to share how remarkable details about Neanderthal life have in recent decades utterly transformed our understanding, revealing them not as dead-end evolutionary failures, but curious, creative, adaptable and successful.

“I am so grateful to the judges for this award, and accept in honour of the Neanderthals themselves, who never fail to impress, inspire and surprise us, offering a vision of another way to be human.”