An ancient camp was discovered in Madrid where Neanderthals hosted “hunting parties” to track large bovids and deer 76,000 years ago.
With an area of 300 m2, archaeologists believe it could be the largest camp in the Iberian Peninsula.
They believe it could have acted as an intermediary between the Neanderthals hunting their prey and the place of final consumption, where the whole group would take advantage of the resources the hunting groups had gathered.
Encounters: An ancient camp was found in Madrid where Neanderthals hosted “hunting parties” to track down large bovids and deer 76,000 years ago. Animal remains (pictured) recovered from the site helped archaeologists identify the camp
With an area of 300 m2, archaeologists believe that the site of Abrigo de Navalmaíllo in Pinilla del Valle, Madrid (pictured) could be the largest camp in the region of the Iberian Peninsula.
The faunal remains of the Navalmaíllo site include: a) jaw of a large bovid; b) rhino molar; c) horse molar; d) molar hyena; e) stone tool cutting marks, and f) percussion mark to access the marrow of a long bone
The taphonomic study of the fauna in the Abrigo de Navalmaíllo site showed that it coincided with remains found in similar hunting grounds, but not with those of the residential Neanderthal camps identified above (pictured above).
An analysis of the fauna at the Abrigo de Navalmaíllo site in Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, helped the researchers make the discovery. That it observes the whole process of what happens after an organism dies and ends up becoming a fossil.
“We have been able to demonstrate with great certainty that Navalmaíllo’s Neanderthals hunted mainly large bovids and deer that they processed at the site and would then move to a second reference site,” said Abel Moclán, lead author of the research study of the National Research Center on Human Evolution.
‘This aspect is very interesting, since in the Iberian Peninsula there are very few sites where this type of behavior has been identified.
“For all this we have used very powerful statistical tools, such as artificial intelligence.”
Archaeologists have previously found evidence of other Neanderthal activities in the region, including the manufacture of stone tools or the use of fire.
With this latest discovery, researchers think it was used as a short-term basis by Neanderthal groups.
The animals were captured locally, transported to the camp and, after processing, some parts would have been transported to other places.
All phases of the butchery were identified, along with the extraction of long bone marrow, which revealed interest in obtaining this nutritious food.
Human use of animal resources at the site reflects a focus on hunting large bovids and deer, or deer, while horses, rhinos, and small animals were much less common, the researchers said.
Carnivorous activity was also identified, but these animals, including hyenas, left mostly the remains of small prey or fed on corpses abandoned in the field by human hunters.
“Navalmaíllo is one of the few archaeological sites in Iberia that can be interpreted as a hunting camp,” said the study’s authors, but added that “there are likely to be more hunting camps present in the Iberian Peninsula.” , but they are yet to be found. ‘
This map of the Iberian Peninsula shows the location of the excavation sites of the Abrigo de Navalmaíllo, as well as the sites dated to the Upper Pleistocene.
Finger marks, fractures, cut marks and footprints of fossilized bones recovered from the site of Madrid were found.
These graphs show the types of very large, large, medium, and small animals found on the site. Human use of animal resources at the site reflects a focus on primary access to large bovids and deer. Access to horses, rhinos and small animals was much less frequent, the researchers said.
“Navalmaíllo is one of the few archaeological sites in Iberia that can be interpreted as a hunting camp,” said the study’s authors, but added that “there are likely to be more hunting camps present in the Iberian Peninsula.” , but have not yet been found “.
Earlier this month, several researches claimed that cave paintings drawn by Neanderthals with swirling dots, scales, animals and hands show that our distant cousins were more artistic than previously thought.
A formation of river stones in the cave of Ardales, Málaga, in Spain, is dyed red, originally believed to be a natural coating of iron oxide deposited by flowing water.
However, samples of the red residue allowed a team from the University of Barcelona to re-examine its origins and confirm that it was created by Neanderthals 65,000 years ago.
They found that the ocher-based pigment was intentionally applied by Neanderthals, as modern humans had not yet made their appearance on the European continent.
A close relative of modern humans, Neanderthals became extinct 40,000 years ago
Neanderthals were a close human ancestor that mysteriously disappeared about 40,000 years ago.
The species lived in Africa with the first humans for millennia before moving to Europe about 300,000 years ago.
Later, humans joined, which entered Eurasia about 48,000 years ago.
Neanderthals were a cousin species of humans but not a direct ancestor (the two species separated from a common ancestor) who died about 50,000 years ago. In the picture is an exhibition of the Neanderthal museum
These were the original “cave men”, historically thought to be cumbersome and brutal compared to modern humans.
However, in recent years, and especially over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that we sell Neanderthals in short.
A growing body of evidence points to a more sophisticated and versatile type of caveman than anyone thought possible.
It now seems likely that Neanderthals had counted, buried their dead, painted and even intertwined with humans.
They used body art as pigments and pearls, and were the first artists, with Neanderthal rock art (and symbolism) in Spain apparently earlier than the oldest modern human art for about 20,000 years.
They are believed to have hunted on land and fished. However, they became extinct about 40,000 years ago after the success of Homo sapiens in Europe.