The Neanderthals are our evolutionary cousins, belonging to the Homo genus alongside modern Homo sapiens. They engaged in interbreeding with our ancestors before abruptly disappearing over 30,000 years ago.
The reasons behind their extinction remain largely a mystery, with one hypothesis suggesting that they, like other ancient human species, could not withstand the harsh environmental changes due to their lesser adaptability compared to us.
However, surprising signs of adaptability in Neanderthals have recently been discovered in a cave.
An excavation at the Abric Pizarro site, a cave once inhabited by Neanderthals – (Photo: Journal of Archaeological Science).
The excavation of a site named Abric Pizarro in Spain has yielded thousands of artifacts dating from 65,000 to 100,000 years ago, including stone tools and animal bones.
Abric Pizarro – a “home” in the cave – contains numerous remains of small animals, indicating that the Neanderthals who sheltered here were highly versatile hunters.
They developed new hunting techniques and lifestyles to adapt to the available food sources.
Researcher Sofia Samper Carro from the Australian National University (ANU) stated that the remaining animal bones indicate that the group of Neanderthals here successfully hunted local wildlife, ranging from red deer and horses to bison and smaller animals like rabbits and freshwater turtles.
These animal bones are exceptionally well-preserved, allowing researchers to observe various traces created by hunting and food processing activities.
This reveals that the ancient group here crafted a diverse array of tools to maximize the resources available in the area.
“They knew exactly what they were doing. They understood this area and how to survive for extended periods,” Dr. Samper Carro remarked.
The study, recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, further affirms the body of evidence indicating that Neanderthals were not a primitive species.
Previous sites have shown that these ancient humans created sophisticated stone tools, wove fibers, and adorned their living spaces with various forms of art.
With this new discovery regarding their high adaptability, we may need to seek alternative hypotheses to explain the extinction of this group.
One clue suggests that the decline of Neanderthal populations coincided with the period of population growth among Homo sapiens.
Some theories propose that it was the expansion of modern humans that led to the extinction of many other human species.
