Neanderthal is considered to be one of the close ancient relatives of human beings. Scientists have long known that Neanderthals were capable of building tools and weapons. Now, a new discovery shows that Neanderthals were also smart enough to create ornaments and art.
Researchers from the University of Gottingen and the Lower Saxony State Office for Heritage examined the newly discovered carved bones from Unicorn Cave in the Harz Mountains. They came to the conclusion that Neanderthals had good cognitive abilities. New excavations at Unicorn Cape had been going on for the past three years.
Carvings for decorative purpose
This is the first time the team has managed to unearth well-preserved layers of cultural artifacts from the Neanderthal period. The team discovered a foot bone that first looked at nothing more than remains from a hunt.
Once the soil sticking was removed, the team found an angular pattern of six notches. It was found that the marks weren’t the result of animal butchering but were made for decorative purposes. The team experimented with the foot bones of modern cattle to understand how the markings could have been made.
It was found that the bone was likely boiled before it was soft enough to be carved using stone tools. It is estimated that the carvings took around one and a half hours to finish. The foot bone used for carvings is of a creature called a giant dear. Carbone was dated at over 51,000 years old leveraging radiocarbon dating technology.
Very important discovery
This also marks the first time that an object carved by Neanderthals has been dated. Until now, only a few ornamental objects from the Neanderthal period were discovered in France. Those discoveries are believed to be around 40,000 years old.
Researchers suggest that the creativity of Neanderthals developed independently of modern humans. The newly discovered bone carving is the oldest decorated object discovered in Lower Saxony. It is said to be one of the most important discoveries from the Neanderthal period in central Europe. It will help scientists understand our most primitive relatives better.
