Gourmet Neanderthals cooked seafood and hunted giant elephants in cooperative mode

The latest estimates hold that the Eurasian continent once hosted some 70,000

that roamed its entire length, from a southern cave on the Iberian Peninsula to the remote tundras of northern Europe, during the more than 200,000 years that they existed.

This week two investigations have been published that show that Neanderthals, far from having the short, brutal and isolated existence of pure hunter-gatherer nomadism that was attributed to them years ago, had encounters during life for cooperation with other clans, such as hunting of giant elephants, and even complex cuisine, like a

in the Atlantic.

More information

What if the Neanderthals are us?

In present-day Germany, in an old open-air coal quarry near the city of Halle, more than 3,000 bones, tusks and teeth have been discovered from 70

, a now extinct species of giant mammals that inhabited the Pleistocene. and that they disappeared 125,000 years ago.

The research that collects it, published in the journal

and led by the scientist Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, from the Monrepos Archaeological Research Center and Museum in Neuwied (Germany), concludes that the Neanderthals hunted these pachyderms of at least many tons for 2,000 years, in the ice age.

The cuts in the bones made with tools found in the excavation are the key.

Analyzing the archaeological site discovered in 1980, Gaudzinski-Windheuser's team deduced not only that Neanderthals were capable of organizing strategic hunting parties with different clans, but also that they possessed sufficient intelligence to anticipate the need to have than store food.

That is, that beyond a simple subsistence hunt, there was a supply of food thanks to these "protein bombs" that were piled up in pantries.

Which would indicate a limited nomadism due to the climatic conditions of the continent at the time.

The pachyderms found, of which there is a record with almost intact skeletons in the sample, are the ancestors of current African elephants,

The Gruta da Figueira Brava facing the Atlantic Ocean, located south of Lisbon (Portugal), where Neanderthals roamed 90,000 years ago.

neanderthal seafood platter

In the extreme west of the European continent, in a cave on the Atlantic coast, when the ocean was two kilometers below its current maritime limit, a Neanderthal fishing couple traveled that distance to get a precious booty: shellfish.

After capturing the crabs, a type of crab (

), they returned to their camp located inside the cavernous galleries and cooked them, because they knew the nutritional properties of fire and enjoyed the characteristic flavor of charred crustacean meat.

an act of

not recorded so far, which probably occurred as is in the Gruta da Figueira Brava, located south of Lisbon, in Portugal, approximately 90,000 years ago.

This is reflected in another new publication in the specialized journal

led by Mariana Nabais, from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES).

The scientist Nabais describes her result as "unpublished" and welcomes the fact that much more research is now being done in caves and sites in southern Europe, places where evidence is accumulating that Neanderthals inhabited for long periods of time.

The work of Nabais's team consisted of analyzing the crab claws found and other remains of marine life, many with burns, and making sure that their fractures or cuts correspond and can be dated with the Neanderthal record, and in turn rule out that other animals They would have been deposited there or the corrosion of the years would have brought them.

The cave, discovered in the 1980s, remained sealed due to a melting of rocky sediments.

Nabais laughs when reflecting on whether what he found can be described as "

", since she does not want to speculate about what was going on inside the minds of these ancestors, but for her it is undeniable that "there is preparation and planning, since it is a meal that requires time."

Our discoveries are the last nail in the coffin of the outdated notion that Neanderthals were primitive cavemen.

Mariana Nabais, Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES)

Nabais, in the foreground, and another IPHES researcher collect the remains of Neanderthal food.Mariana Nabais

One behavior that both studies highlight is the ability of these groups of hunter-gatherers to move between different camps according to their seasonal needs.

The prehistory researcher Igor Gutiérrez Zugasti details how the accumulated evidence suggests that Neanderthals are "integrated into their environment, they are not like us today", he comments ironically, "they move through different areas depending on the climate and what they require".

This, in the eyes of the expert, was probably due to the fact that they sought refuge in the Mediterranean caves during the ice age and then returned to the great Eurasian steppe at the end of the cold.

The professor at the International Institute for Prehistoric Research at the University of Cantabria, not linked to either of these two publications, details how other previous works have indicated that Neanderthals were dedicated to monitoring herds of wild animals on their migratory routes to learn about their dynamics and learn.

“It is not the same as shepherding”, he clarifies, but it is undeniable, given the evidence, that there was a transmission of knowledge, as reflected in the creation of tools within the tribe itself and cooking was also taught between generations.

Neanderthals are integrated into their environment, they are not like us today, they move through different areas depending on the climate and what they require

Igor Gutiérrez Zugasti, researcher in prehistory University of Cantabria

For the researcher, the knowledge provided by these new discoveries closes another debate on the Neanderthal diet, which in the past was believed to consist only of meat.

The popular conception that these

were only carnivorous is a recurring myth, similar to what happened at the end of the 20th century regarding hybridization between species, which genetics ruled;

or as their apparent coarseness and mental retardation at the cognitive level, since "they were not so different from sapiens in intelligence, perhaps less social," concludes Zugasti emphatically.

The dividing line "between them and us" would thus become more blurred for the scientist.

Zugasti considers both discoveries "fantastic", as they highlight the abilities demonstrated by hunter-gatherer societies to share their knowledge with other clans.

For him, what we know about Neanderthals has expanded beyond the prejudices imposed on them in the 19th century about their stupidity, little social complexity, or gastronomic simplicity.

Zooarchaeologist Nabais calls her line of work the "last nail in the coffin" to all the misinformation about "Neanderthals as primitives," she bluntly asserts.

You can follow