The first Neanderthals chased the IBEX on the steep mountain slopes

Nearly 300,000 years ago, Neanderthals had already understood how to hunt mountain goats along the vertical cliffs and treat them in well -organized camps.

Known for having set an ambush to large animals in the meadows and flat forests of Western Europe, it seems that the Neanderthals are adapted to the hills of Eastern Europe by adding an agile IBEX to their hunting regime. The first humans skinned and massacred animals in a neighboring cave before roasting their bones for marrow and fat, showing impressive skills and knowledge much earlier than expected, explains Stefan Milošević at the University of Belgrade in Serbia.

“The approach to IBEX hunting is completely different, because it lives on a very rugged and steep and sterile ground,” he says. “We now see that the first Neanderthals – who had barely differentiated themselves anthropologically as a species – already exploited ecological niches that no hominin had never exploited before.”

Neanderthals have evolved approximately 400,000 years ago, but most of what we know about them comes from Western Europe sites that exceed 150,000 years. It is therefore essential to find clues that fill the gaps in the chronology of the Neanderthal, habitat and culture, explains Marie-Hélène Moncel at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, which was not involved in the study.

In 2017, archaeologists found that the remains of Neanderthal in a layer of around 290,000 years of the Velika Balanica cave in Serbia, which makes it the oldest, the remains found in Eastern Europe.

Since then, Milošević and his colleagues have discovered hundreds of stone tools and have turned around 30,000 fragments of animal bone in the cave. Almost three -quarters of the fragments are ÉLLAGNES less than 2 centimeters long, and most of the identifiables are IBEX and red deer killed in spring and summer, suggesting that the Neanderthals were inhabitants of the seasonal cave.

Some bones – in particular the long deer legs – have been burned and open, which means that these first Neanderthals probably heated the bones to liquefy the marrow for easier extraction and leaving remaining fragments in the hearth so that the bone fat maintains the fire. Others have shown signs of tendon harvesting, perhaps for the rope or the nets.

Cerf skeletons represented younger young people and adults, a sign of selective hunting that promotes the survival of the herd, explains Milošević. But the IBEX were killed at all stages of life – suggesting that the Neanderthals were still “recruits” against mountain goats, probably chasing with sharp sticks and rudimentary traps. “They probably had many unsuccessful attempts,” he said.

In addition to these favorite food sources, researchers also found some remains transformed from wild boars, bears of caves, wolves, foxes, leopards and various birds.

The organized bone positions in different sections of the cave point to separate areas for specialized tasks. The hearth was at the center, for example, with thrown bones stacked behind, and the entrance seemed to be used as a tool workshop.

Overall, the results indicate a “remarkable cognitive flexibility”, explains José Carrión at the University of Murcia in Spain. “It is a confirmation that Neanderthals were resolvers of creative problems, managing complex habitats with ingenuity and skills. Neanderthals were humans – intelligent, social and extraordinarily adaptive. ”

“What emerges from Balanica is the image of Neanderthals who not only resilients but who already experience strategies and social organization that we tend to associate with much more periods,” explains Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo at the Archaeological Institute of Mérida in Spain. “This reminds us that the sophistication of Neanderthal was not a late spark, but a deeply rooted flame which started surprisingly at the beginning of human history.”

Neanderthals, ancient humans and the art of caves: France

Embark on a captivating trip in time by exploring the key sites of Neanderthal and Superior Paleolithic from the south of France, from Bordeaux to Montpellier, with Kate Douglas from New Scientist.