Rethinking the Neanderthals

A raft of discoveries over the past few years is proving that our ancient ancestors were far from the brutish, primitive species we once thought

The stereotype of Neanderthals caveme4 stupid, grunting n couldn’t be more wrong.

Until Neanderthals’ disappearance some 40,000 years ago, they were our closest relatives. But ever since we discovered this hominin species in 1856, we’ve tended to stereotype them as brutal, unsophisticated ‘cavemen’. This is a view that’s now looking increasingly outdated. As scientists reveal new insights into Neanderthals’ lives – from their use of plants, to their family life and their artistic skills – the notion that they were an inferior species is being debunked once and for all.

THEY WERE GOURMETS

Neanderthals lived across Eurasia, from North Wales to Palestine, and all the way into Siberia. With such a colossal range, it’s no wonder that they ate a variety of foods. They hunted cooperatively in groups to capture formidable creatures such as bears, rhinos, and giant camels (now extinct). They fashioned wooden spears for closequarters jabbing, while others they threw like lances. After the kill, they deployed expert skills to skin and butcher their prey, removing the fattiest meat from haunch to brain, even smashing and possibly boiling bones for their nutritious marrow.

As well as big game, Neanderthals caught rabbits and birds, and collected shellfish. Fruits and nuts, including pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts, date palm, figs, olives and grapes, also played a surprisingly large role in their diet. Meticulous examinations of distinctive wear patterns and microscopic residues on their teeth published in 2018 have confirmed that foods which needing peeling or hulling like tubers (wild radish, water lily) and seeds (wild cereal, peas, lentils) were on the menu right across Europe. We’ve even found evidence at sites as far apart as Belgium and Iraq that they cooked plants, from dry-roasting to boiling. It seems that no matter when or where they lived, Neanderthals took full advantage of nature’s bounty.