Neanderthal Art & Culture

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CONTENTS

• Who were the Neanderthals?
• When was the Species Discovered?
• Where Did Neanderthals Live?
• Population
• Did Neanderthals Evolve into Modern Humans?
• Facts About Neanderthals
• Neanderthal Art
• Why did Neanderthals Become Extinct?
• Other Hominins
• References

Who were the Neanderthals?

Neanderthals were a species of early humans who lived between about 400,000 and 37,000 BC, and co-existed with Homo sapiens (modern humans) in Europe for at least 17,000 years.

In the Middle East, the two species may have rubbed shoulders for up to 50,000 years.

Homo neanderthalensis settled across the northern hemisphere, from Britain to China, and developed a short and stocky physique to help stay warm.

In contrast, their ancestor Homo heidelbergensis and the later H. sapiens developed a more slender frame with longer legs, which was suited to warmer climes.

Neanderthals also had larger brains than any other hominins, and could think abstractly. Indeed, scientists believe their mental abilities were relatively close to our own.

In particular, they were the first Stone Age hominins to be associated with cave art (in the form of painted signs and stalagmites).

In addition, they produced rock art (in the form of cupules and engravings), and decorative art (in the form of necklaces and other adornments).

In addition, they created a mysterious circle of broken stalactites (think, installation) in a cave in southwestern France. For details, see: Bruniquel Cave Constructions (175,000 BC).

Thanks to a combination of palaeoproteomic and palaeogenetic analysis by scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, we also know Neanderthals mastered the art of flint-knapping and made important contributions to several stone tool cultures including Châtelperronien culture.

For more about the earliest prehistoric art, which emerged during the Middle and Lower Paleolithic, see: World's Oldest art (from 540,000 BC).

When was the Species Discovered?

The first fossil of the species to be discovered and documented was 'Neanderthal 1', an oval shaped skull with a large brow ridge under a flat and receding forehead.

It was found in 1856, in the small Feldhofer Cave, located in the Neander Valley near the German city of Düsseldorf. (The suffix 'thal' means valley in German.)

Since then, the fossilized remains of hundreds of individual members of the species, have been excavated from Stone Age sites across Europe and the Middle East.

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Where Did Neanderthals Live?

Fossils of this species have been found scattered across Eurasia, from Britain to Mongolia.

They inhabited southern and central Europe, the Middle east and parts of Siberia and central Asia.

It's possible their distribution extended as far east as China. A skull known as 'Maba', found in Guangdong province in southern China, is alleged to belong to the species, but doubts persist.

At any rate, genetic evidence points to the existence of several distinct geographical groups, including: Western Europe (e.g. La Micoque in the Périgord), the Mediterranean coastline (e.g. Cave of Los Aviones), the Caucasus (e.g. Mezmaiskaya Cave) and the Siberian Altai Mountains (e.g. Denisova Cave).

Contact between these regions was sporadic, but still significant. For example, DNA and tools from Okladnikov and Chagyrskaya caves, in the Altai Mountains, are more similar to those at Neanderthal sites in Eastern Europe, than to those at Denisova Cave.

Population

Studies employing mtDNA analysis have produced various estimates of the Neanderthal population during the Stone Age.

A reasonable range is between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals, although there are higher and lower estimates.

The population peaked about 50,000 BC, after which it went into decline.

Scientists believe the species lived in especially small groups with perhaps 20-50 members, and suffered from low fertility and high infant mortality rates.

In addition, DNA analysis shows persistent inbreeding with consequent health problems.

Life expectancy among adult Neanderthals was also relatively low: four out of five 20-year olds were dead by the age of 40.

All this implies a population barely able to maintain itself.

Did Neanderthals Evolve into Modern Humans?

No. According to archaeology, Neanderthals are not part of the mainline evolutionary tree.

Modern Homo sapiens evolved in Africa from H. heidelbergensis (who evolved from H. ergaster), and began leaving Africa from about 110,000 BC, appearing first in the Middle East.

But it wasn't until about 70,000 BC - probably due to climate and environmental changes - that large scale migration of modern humans took place.

Archaeologists know that Cro-Magnon modern humans were in the Mandrin Cave in southern France by 54,000 BC, and they have also identified a tenfold increase in the population of moderns in Western Europe, during the period of their co-existence with indigenous Neanderthals.

[Note: Prior to the fossils unearthed at Mandrin Cave, the earliest modern humans in Europe were found at Bacho Kiro Cave in central Bulgaria.]

This, together with the problems listed above, would have placed Neanderthals at a severe disadvantage when competing for shelter and territory with the new modern migrants.

Nonetheless, for 17 years at least, Neanderthals co-existed with H. sapiens in Europe, as they did elsewhere across Eurasia. But did they interbreed?

A 2010 archaeogenetics study of the Neanderthal genome (nuclear DNA and genes) confirms that modern humans and Neanderthals did interbreed, although on a very limited scale.

Present-day Europeans and Asians share about 1-4 percent of their DNA with Neanderthals, while Africans share none.

However, the data shows that wide-scale interbreeding did not occur between the two species in Europe, where it would have been the most convenient given their close proximity.

Paleoanthropologists are now seeking answers as to why so little interbreeding occurred. One possibility is that Neanderthals were too widely dispersed and may have avoided contact, for reasons of self-preservation.

Facts About Neanderthals

Neanderthal body size and shape, compared to modern humans:

• Males of the species averaged 164 cm (5 ft 5 in) in height, and 65 kg (143 lbs) in weight.
• Females averaged 155 cm (5 ft 1 in) in height, and 54 kg (119 lbs) in weight.
• Their brain size averaged 1500 cc. By comparison, the brain volume of today's modern European population averages about 1,260 cc in men and 1,130 cc in women.
• Their skull was also different. It was more oval than round, and it had a receding even flat forehead above a thick brow ridge.
• They had a thicker, broader nose, designed to humidify and warm the cold dry air.
• Their jaws were bigger and they had larger teeth.
• In general, Neanderthals were shorter and had thicker neck muscles, a more robust skeleton, and a more muscular body than H. sapiens.
• Interestingly, the human FOXP2 gene, associated with language ability, was the same as in modern humans.

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Neanderthal diet and lifestyle

• As a rule, Neanderthals tended to live in caves and rock shelters, or nearby in temporary open air shelters. Despite traces of long-term open-air settlements obtained from Ein Qashish in Israel, and Moldova I in Ukraine, outdoor sites were used mostly for slaughtering and butchering animals, rather than as residential spaces.
• They were skilled in the controlled use of fire for warmth, cooking and protection against other predators. They also wore animal hides which they wrapped and tied around them, since they lacked the specialist micro-tools developed by H. sapiens to sew them together.
• Like all early hominins, Neanderthals were hunter gatherers. But their hunting habits differed from those of H. sapiens. For example, they tended to kill game animals at close quarters - a dangerous practice. Also, by living in small groups, they were less able to hunt large herds or to defend a kill against other predators like lions, leopards and hyenas.
• Neanderthal dietary habits were strongly influenced by climate and habitat. They ate seafood and plant foods when possible, but their average diet was dominated by meat, especially in winter when the supply of plant food dropped. This led to nutritional deficiencies. For instance, studies show that 40 percent of Neanderthal fossils had hypoplasia - stunted cell growth caused by lack of nutrition in childhood.

Neanderthals Culture

Neanderthals had a complex culture, involving the creation of art as well as some relatively sophisticated tools. They used medicinal plants and cared for their sick. But in many ways they remained archaic in their behaviour.

For example, there is evidence that Neanderthals often buried their dead and sometimes marked their graves with offerings. They were the first human species to perform this type of symbolic act.

Examples include: the 'cemetery' of six or seven individuals, dating to around 60,000 BC, found at La Ferrassie Cave in the French Dordogne, and the interred skeletons of two individuals recovered from the Kizil-Koba Cave in the Crimea.

At the same time, however, Neanderthals also resorted to occasional cannibalism.

At the Neanderthal site of Krapina Cave in Croatia, for instance, archaeologists discovered almost 800 Neanderthal bones with evidence of cut marks and hammerstone fragments.

What's more, while the bones with little or no bone marrow were intact, all the marrow-rich bones were missing.

Evidence of Stone Age cannibalism by Neanderthals, has also been found at Abri Moula-Guercy in the French Ardèche, at Les Pradelles in south-central France, and La Quina in the Charente.

In Spain, similar evidence has been discovered at the El Sidron Cave in the Asturias, as well as Cueva del Boquete at Zafarraya near Granada. In addition, five partially cannibalised individuals were discovered at the Grottes de Goyet in the Belgian province of Namur.

Tools

Neanderthals made reasonably advanced stone tools, classified as Mode 3 technology.

About 300,000 years ago, they developed an innovative flint-knapping technology known as the Levallois technique. This was part of the wider Mousterian culture - named after Le Moustier rock shelter in the Dordogne - which was introduced by Neanderthals in Europe, after which they also developed the Micoquien tool industry.

Some paleoanthropologists believe they also developed the Châtelperronian tool culture, during the earliest phase of the Upper Paleolithic, but the claim is controversial.

It is thought that Neanderthals imitated the flint-knapping and types of tools made by modern humans. Or else, they acquired the tools by trading with them.

In any event, while H. neanderthalensis may have been more creative and sophisticated that originally thought, Cro-Magnon moderns were quick to introduce a new range of specialist tools demonstrating their more advanced cognitive toolkit.

See also: History of Stone Tools.

Neanderthal Art

Homo neanderthalensis was the first human species to create paleolithic art in caves, including rock engravings and a variety of cave painting, notably in Spain. Also, they may have created the world's oldest known musical instrument.

In total, they were responsible for at least six categories of Stone Age art, as follows:

• Body Painting
  Like other early hominins in Africa and Asia, Neanderthals used red ochre for a variety of functional and decorative purposes including body painting. Among the earliest examples were concentrates of red ochre pigment unearthed at the Maastricht-Belvédère site in The Netherlands, dating to around 250,000 BC, and ochre containers found at Crow's Cave at the paleolithic settlement at Boroșteni, in Romania, which date to 45,900 BC.
• Decorative Art
  Neanderthals made a variety of necklaces and other decorative adornments. Examples include:
  • Krapina White Eagle claw jewellery (130,000 BC)
  • Los Aviones Cave shell jewellery (115,000 BC)
  • Scallop shells with traces of pigment, from Cueva Antón (41,000 BC).
  • Châtelperronian bead necklaces made out of animal teeth, shells, and ivory from Grotte du Renne at d'Arcy-sure-Cure.
• Rock Engravings
  The most famous example is probably the hashtag style design incised on a stone ledge at Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar (37,000 BC). In addition, some 65 engravings have been documented on pebbles or larger fragments of rock at 27 sites occupied by Neanderthals in Europe and the Middle East.
• Cupules
  Like H. erectus, H. ergaster and H. heidelbergensis before them, Neanderthals created rock cupules at various sites, of which the best known is La Ferrassie Cave (60,000 BC) in the French Périgord.
• Mobiliary Art
  The best known example of Neanderthal mobiliary art is the Divje Babe Flute from Slovenia, now ESR dated to between 60,000 and 50,000 BC. Finds of such symbolic significance are of primary interest to paleoanthropologists.
• Another example is the deer bone (49,000 BC) engraved with a chevron pattern, from the Unicorn Cave (Einhornhöhle), in Germany.
• Note: the recent discovery of Cro-Magnon remains at Mandrin Cave, dating to between 52,800 and 54,800 BC, has cast doubt on the creator of these carvings, although it remains on display in the National Museum of Slovenia, in Ljubljana, as a Neanderthal flute.
• Cave Painting
  Neanderthal cave painting includes hand stencils in the Cave of Maltravieso (64,700 BC); a scalariform sign at the Cave of La Pasiega (62,000 BC); and red ochre paintings on stalactites in Ardales Cave (63,000 BC). All dates were obtained by Uranium-Thorium dating of the overlying calcite flowstone.

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Why did Neanderthals Become Extinct?

No single cause has so far been identified for the rapid disappearance of Neanderthals from the archaeological record. Thus it seems most likely that their extinction was due to a combination of factors:

Biological Issues

• Reproductive and survival rates appear poor among Neanderthals, compared to H. sapiens.
• Neanderthals could not run as well as modern humans. This was unimportant in the forest habitats Neanderthals were used to, but became very important when the European biome changed from forest to tundra, due to the onset of the Ice Age. By comparison, modern humans who developed on African grasslands adapted more readily to hunting on the open spaces of the tundra.
• Neanderthal brain development took less time than that of H. sapiens. This implies the latter had a distinct cognitive edge.
• H. neanderthalensis may have had a reduced capacity for speech and language, compared to H. sapiens.

Behavioural Symptoms

• Neanderthal culture did not exhibit the same depth of thought as that displayed by modern humans, which would have made it difficult for them to compete for space and resources. For instance, tools and hunting strategies created by Cro-Magnons were clearly superior in several respects to those of the Neanderthals.
• Neanderthals seemed less able to adapt. They adhered to close-range ambushes of game animals, despite the danger involved. Evidence shows a relatively high number of skeletal injuries in both sexes, likely caused by injuries sustained from close range hunting. Also, Neanderthals specialized in hunting large, Ice Age animals. But when the climate changed and some of their prey animals became extinct, the hunters themselves became vulnerable to starvation.
• They also lacked the ability of modern humans to develop and maintain complex social networks across wide areas.
• Neanderthal trade networks were no better. As a result, they were unable to obtain alternative foods when their usual prey dried up.

Demographic Issues

• Modern migrants rapidly outnumbered the resident Neanderthals. They formed larger communities and each community was supported by others within their network. In time, Their superior numbers must have given them a significant edge over their rivals.
• In the long term, the moderns' larger communities and greater numbers, led to greater innovation as well as higher birth rates. Conversely, the smaller communities of Neanderthals would have been more vulnerable to ill-health and extinction.

Climate Problems

• The Ice Age between about 65,000 and 25,000 BC (known as OIS-3) was a period of severe and abrupt climate change, with major impacts on animal habitats and species.
• At this time, small advantages in biology, hunting and support systems, as recorded above, could mean the difference between survival and extinction. Evidence shows that modern humans had a wider range of advantages which would have helped them to survive these climate changes.
• There is also some evidence that suggests the severe climate fluctuations made the continent inhospitable for all humans, and implies that both species died out around 30-28,000 BC. However, because there were other Homo sapiens populations living in Africa who were able to repopulate Europe, modern humans survived, whereas Neanderthals - who lacked replacements - became extinct.

Other Hominins

• Homo habilis
  2.8 mya - 1.6 mya
  Africa
• Homo erectus
  2 mya - 120,000 BC
  Africa, Middle East, Asia
• Homo ergaster
  2 mya - 600,000 BC
  Africa
• Homo heidelbergensis
  600,000 - 300,000 BC
  Africa, Europe, Asia
• Denisovans
  500,000 to 35,000 BC
  Siberia, Asia, Oceania
• Modern Humans & Art
  Homo sapiens
  300,000 BC - present
  Active globally

References

(1) Szalay, F. S.; Delson, E. (2013). Evolutionary history of the Primates. Academic Press. p. 508. ISBN 978-1-4832-8925-0.
(2) Milks, A.; Parker, D.; Pope, M. (2019). "External ballistics of Pleistocene hand-thrown spears: experimental performance data and implications for human evolution". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 820.
(3) Wil Roebroeks, Mark J. Sier, Trine Kellberg Nielsen, and Herman J. Mücher. "Use of red ochre by early Neandertals." PNAS. January 23, 2012. 109 (6) 1889-1894.
(3) Zilhao, J. et al; (11 January 2010). "Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (3): 1023–1028.
(4) "Palaeoproteomic evidence identifies archaic hominins associated with the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne." Frido Welker, Mateja Hajdinjak, Sahra Talamo, and Jean-Jacques Hublin. PNAS. September 16, 2016. 113 (40) 11162-11167.
(5) Leder, Dirk, et al; (September 2021). "A 51,000-year-old engraved bone reveals Neanderthals' capacity for symbolic behaviour". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 5 (9): 1273–1282.
(6) D.L. Hoffmann et al. 2018. U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art. Science 359 (6378): 912-915.