Ten Ancient Secrets from the Neanderthal World

Neanderthals are often thought of as primitive oafs. However, as years go by, we uncover more and more evidence to suggest the ancient species was remarkably clever. Time and time again, scientists are left astonished at their sophisticated way of life. From caring for disabled children to creating portable works of art, new secrets continue to emerge.

Whether feasting on an elephant or possibly even hibernating, it seems our prehistoric relatives were far more advanced than we have given them credit for. Here are ten fascinating secrets that we have gleaned about the ancient peoples.

Related: 10 Horrifying Discoveries of Ancient Human Sacrifice?utm_source=seealso&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=direct

10 Ancient Neanderthals Blighted by Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are among the most irritating critters known to man—tiny bloodsuckers that lurk in your bedding. Now, it turns out that we humans are not the only ones to endure the parasitic blighters. Tens of thousands of years ago, Neanderthals had to put up with the minuscule nibblers.

Biologists in the U.S. estimate that the bugs spread from bats to our ancient ancestors around 60,000 years ago. After that, they leaped over to our species, which is why scientists believe they were the first human pests.

The more cautious bed bugs that chose to hang around the bat hosts fared less well. DNA evidence suggests that their numbers began to decline 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.^[1]

9 Spanish Fingerprint Points to Neanderthal Artwork

An ancient fingerprint found on a rock in Spain suggests the Neanderthals may have created art. Researchers believe an archaic man dipped one of his fingers in red pigment and used it to mark his pebble canvas. The stone looks a bit like a human face with a red, painted nose. Scientists uncovered the remarkable artifact at the San Lázaro rock shelter in Segovia.

The team used advanced methods like multi-spectrum analysis to work out what the blemish was. They say the red smudge is the world’s oldest fingerprint and also deduced that it came from an adult male.

Experts say this finding is “an important contribution to the debate” around whether the hominids made art. The fingerprint does not appear to have a practical use, suggesting it was created purely for decoration, transforming the rock into a portable work of art.^[2]

8 Ancient Leftovers Reveal Complex Recipes

Neanderthals are often thought of as quite dim creatures, but evidence suggests they could whip up a pretty ornate feast. In a 2022 study, scientists revealed blackened leftovers from what they believe is the world’s oldest cooked meal, found in Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq. They say it raises questions as to whether Neanderthals were foodies.

The bygone meal was quite a feast. Scientists even tried to cook some of the grub themselves. They collected nearby seeds, which they used to create “a sort of pancake-cum-flatbread.” Paleoecology professor Chris Hunt described the taste as “very palatable” and “sort of nutty.” Not bad for a 70,000-year-old recipe.^[3]

7 Compassion Toward Children with Down’s Syndrome

The fossil of a Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome suggests the ancient hominids were more kind-hearted than once thought. Scientists discovered skull and ear canal fragments at the Cova Negra site in Valencia in 1989. However, it was nearly 35 years before experts revisited the piece and discovered traits that suggest the child’s condition.

Researchers in Spain say the child lived to at least six years old, although they cannot confirm whether the child was a boy or a girl. They gave her the nickname Tina.

Scientists have found plenty of evidence of Neanderthals caring for other sick and injured adults, prompting debate about whether the species acted out of empathy or an exchange of care. This Cova Negra finding appears to support the notion of altruism within the group.

“The survival of this child, beyond the period of breastfeeding, implies group caregiving,” explained Valentín Villaverde, a professor of prehistory at the University of Valencia. “Probably more extended than parental caregiving, typical of a highly collaborative social context among the members of the group. Otherwise, it is very difficult to explain the survival of this individual up to the age of six years.”^[4]

6 Portugal Cave Sheds Light on Seafood Diet

In March 2020, as the world went into lockdown, scientists in Europe released a paper on the eating habits of Neanderthals at a site in southern Portugal. The team discovered that ancient peoples often feasted on seafood, enjoying treats such as mussels, crab, and fish. They even chowed down on dolphins and sharks.

Scientists previously thought only humans were intelligent enough to collect food from the seas and rivers. But these Portuguese Neanderthals had such a fondness for seafood that they made it nearly half their diet. Experts studied remains from 106,000 to 86,000 years ago from the Figueira Brava cave near Setubal.^[5]

5 Record-Breaking Viruses Hidden in Russian Remains

In a 2024 study, scientists discovered traces of viruses lurking in Neanderthal bones dating back approximately 50,000 years ago. The ancient infections are said to be the oldest known human viruses. They topple the record set by a 31,000-year-old common cold found in baby teeth in Siberia.

Researchers found the prehistoric germs in two male skeletons from the Chagyrskaya cave in Russia’s Altai Mountains. They extracted three types of pathogens from the bones: an adenovirus, a herpesvirus, and a kind of STD known as papillomavirus.

Scientists say this study supports the idea that viruses played a role in the extinction of the Neanderthals 40,000 years ago. They hope to use the findings to learn more about the evolution of disease through history.^[6]

4 Hunting Groups Used to Take Down Elephants

Neanderthals were not shy about hunting and butchering the odd giant elephant. Scientists uncovered thousands of bones at the Neumark-Nord 1 site in central Germany from over 70 individual straight-tusked elephants. The remains date back over 125,000 years. The straight-tusked elephant was an extinct species that grew over 13 feet (4 m) tall and could weigh between 6 and 13 tons (5.4 to 12 metric tons). It was the largest land mammal to roam the Earth during the last Ice Age.

Experts recovered the bones between 1985 and 1996, but recent analysis has yielded new findings about how Neanderthals lived. They found a series of cut marks running across the bones, which suggests the ancient peoples chopped up the huge animals for their fat and meat. Markings show they even used the fat pads on the elephants’ feet.

Due to the massive size of the elephants, scientists reckon the hominids must have known how to preserve meat, possibly by smoking or drying it. Each elephant would provide an enormous amount of sustenance. Scientists calculated that the meat from one animal was enough to produce over 2,500 portions of 4,000 calories each.^[7]

3 Did Changing Magnetic Poles Help Wipe Out the Neanderthals?

There are a whole host of theories about how the ancient hominids died out. In 2021, researchers from down under presented one of the wildest to date. They suggest that flipping magnetic poles may have contributed to the demise of the Neanderthals.

The Earth’s magnetic field helps protect it from cosmic radiation. However, when the poles swap over every few hundred thousand years, it weakens the shield. It leaves the planet less protected against the bombarding particles. The poles last flipped temporarily 42,000 years ago during a period of low activity from the Sun. According to scientists, this could have had such an impact on the planet’s climate that it “probably would have seemed like the end of days.”

It sounds so much like science fiction that researchers have named this period the “Adams event,” after English writer Douglas Adams. Analysis of ancient kauri trees in New Zealand suggests vast shifts in the climate during this Adams event.

“We see this massive growth of the ice sheet over North America,” explained Chris Turney, an Earth science researcher in New South Wales. “We see tropical rain belts in the west Pacific shifting dramatically at that point, and then also wind belts in the Southern Ocean and a drying out in Australia.”^[8]

2 Did Neanderthals Hibernate to Protect Themselves from Harsh Winters?

In the biting cold of prehistoric winter, our ancient relatives could have curled up and hibernated. Fossil records from the Sima de los Huesos cave in northern Spain suggest the hominids may have dozed through the winter hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Researchers found lesion patterns on the bones similar to those seen in remains from other hibernating mammals. They say these may be the result of the species slowing their metabolism and falling into a deep sleep. Scientists believe this caused seasonal disruption to their bone growth.

Sima de los Huesos, the pit of bones, holds thousands of remains. The oldest dates back over 400,000 years and could even precede the Neanderthals. Experts have also found bones from a hibernating cave bear in the Atapuerca pit, which supports the idea that early people were doing the same.^[9]

1 Prehistoric Species Lived and Bred Together in Siberian Cave

For thousands of years, Neanderthals, Denisovans, and possibly humans lived alongside each other. They hunkered down together through the biting cold and the warm periods in a cave near the base of the Altai Mountains in modern Siberia. This is the only place on Earth where scientists have found evidence of the three sciences cohabitating.

Experts believe the Denisovans arrived first, a species we know very little about. Fossil records show they made the cave their home from over 200,000 years ago until 50,000 years ago. Neanderthals arrived a little later. They cropped up around 190,000 years ago and left 90,000 years later. It seems the two hominid groups did more than just live together. In 2018, researchers revealed a hybrid bone from a teenage girl with a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.

Scientists usually work out the age of fossils using carbon dating, but some of the remains in the Denisova Cave are too old to produce reliable results. Instead, they looked into when grains in the soil last saw sunlight. In another study, a team from around the world built a statistical model to calculate the age of some of the cave’s oldest items. Researchers are hopeful that they will also find fossils or DNA traces indicating that Homo sapiens once lived in the cave as well. ^[10]