More than 43,000 years ago, Neanderthals spent centuries collecting animal skulls in caves; But archaeologists aren’t sure why

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Neanderthals purposefully deposited horns and the skulls of horned animals in a cave in what is now Spain, suggesting these extinct human relatives practiced complex cultural practices 43,000 years ago, a new study finds.

The Des-Cubierta cave in central Iberia was first discovered in 2009. In 2023, researchers announced an unusual discovery. 35 Classification of large mammal skulls Inside the cave. Most of the jawbones were missing, but all the skulls came from horned or antlered species. Steppe bison and aurochs. Over 1,400 stone tools were found in one layer, all in the Mousterian style Neanderthals.

“At first glance, the deposit seems chaotic,” study first author LUCIA VILLASCUSA FERNANDEZa doctoral researcher in archeology at Spain’s University of Alcala told Live Science in an email. “What initially appeared to be a haphazard accumulation of material turned out to preserve a clear record of both geological processes and human activity,” she said.

the cave Experienced many rocks After its use over millennia, Villaescusa Fernández and his team therefore teased out the role of these disturbances in addition to Neanderthal activity. This confirmed that Neanderthals had been collecting animal skulls for a long time during the Cold Period between 135,000 and 43,000 years ago, according to a study published in the journal Jan. 3. Archeology and Anthropology.

“This distinction is vital in archeology because understanding past human behavior requires first identifying which parts of the archaeological record were created by humans and which were shaped by nature,” said Vilascua Fernández.

To fill this gap, Villaescusa Fernández and his colleagues carefully mapped the location of all the archaeological remains. They then compared the distribution of rock debris with that of animal bones and stone tools. It became clear that the bones were placed inside the cave on purpose. “These materials had a different origin and were not introduced into the cave by the same processes,” said Vilascua Fernández.

Although the timescale cannot be directly measured, and the precise duration of the practice remains uncertain, the team also found that animal skulls were repeatedly placed in specific areas of the cave for long periods of time. This suggests that the practice may have been maintained for generations and was not directly tied to economic or subsistence needs, said Velescusa Fernandez.

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It’s not clear why Neanderthals collected skulls, but the selection, treatment and placement of horned animal skulls in uninhabited caves “highlights their capacity for cultural practices not directly related to survival,” Villescuza Fernandez said. “This has important implications for how we understand Neanderthal society, particularly in terms of cultural transmission and shared traditions,” he added.

“Too often, discussions of Neanderthal symbolism rely on weak evidence or optimistic interpretations.” Ludovic SlimakArchaeologist at the University of Toulouse in France and author of the book “Naked Neanderthal” (Penguin, 2024) who was not involved in the study, told Live Science by email. “Here, the authors take a more fundamental approach, testing whether the spatial organization of the remains can be explained solely by natural processes,” he said.

The results of this study add new evidence, Slimak said A debate on Neanderthal symbolism. “Instead of asking whether Neanderthals were ‘symbolic like us,’ we should ask what kinds of meaningful behaviors they developed on their own terms. This site suggests that Neanderthal worlds of meaning did exist, but may have had a very different structure than theirs.” A wise man” he said.

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