51,000-Year-Old Bone Carving Discovered in Northern Germany: Evidence of Neanderthals' ‘Sophisticated Behavior’

A 51,000-year-old bone carving was recently discovered in Northern Germany, and its discoverers described it as further evidence of "sophisticated behavior" among Neanderthals.

According to a Gizmodo report, patterns deliberately imprinted onto a bone that belonged to a giant deer are further evidence that Neanderthals had the capability for symbolic thought.

Neanderthals adorned themselves with feathers, illustrated cave paintings, and made jewelry from eagle talons, so it is coming as a small surprise for the discoverers to learn that Neanderthals also etched patterns onto the bone.

Archeologist Silvia Bello at the Natural History Museum in London explained evidence of artistic decorations would suggest production or alteration of objects for symbolic reasons outside simple functionality, adding a new dimension to Neanderthals' multifaceted cognitive capability.

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The 51,000-Year-Old Bone Carving

The 51,000-year-old bone carving was discovered at the Einhornhöhle archeological site in northern Germany's Harz mountains, and it features a line pattern comprising six etchings, forming five stacked chevrons.

According to the study which archeologist Dirk Leder from the State Service for Cultural Heritage Lower Saxony in Hannover, Germany led, the parallel and consistently spaced carvings have similar dimensions, not to mention, were possibly created in a uniform method, suggesting an intentional act.

Radiocarbon dating places the 2.2-inch-long toe bone to the Middle Paleolithic and shortly before the Homo sapiens, as introduced in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, arrived at the region.

The fossil's microscopic analysis suggests it was boiled before etching, which was possibly done to soften the bone before carving; the study, "A 51,000-year-old engraved bone reveals Neanderthals' capacity for symbolic behavior", published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution, specified.

Holding a Substantial Symbolic Meaning

The markings are not resembling cuts usually linked to butchering, and the adorned item is of "no practical use," as the study authors wrote in their research.

As indicated in the study, the carving possibly held substantial symbolic meaning, given the infrequency of giant deer north of the alps during this period.

The exact meaning of the patterns, nonetheless, this report said, "is anyone's guess," that the 51,000-year-old bone carving discovered was produced by Neanderthals is not a certainty.

Genetic evidence shown earlier this year places the anatomically modern humans' arrival to central Europe at approximately 45,000 years ago, which post-dates the carving by roughly 6,000 years.

This seeming time-based gap points to the artifact as owned by Neanderthals, although it is not totally unlikely to suggest that Homo sapiens produced, or perhaps, influenced, this artwork's creation.

A Skill Learned from Modern Humans

Bello, who was not part of this new research explained, they "cannot exclude a similarly early exchange of knowledge" between Neanderthal and modern human populations, which may have affected the engraved artifact's production from Einhornhöhle.

This probably, that Neanderthals learned this particular skill from modern humans, does not diminish their cognitive capacities, nonetheless.

In contrast, the capacity to learn incorporates innovation into an individual's own culture and adjusts to new technologies and abstract concepts need to be recognized as an element of behavioral difficulty.

In this context, the engraved bone from Einhornhöhle has brought Neanderthal behavior even closer to the Homo sapiens modern behavior.

Neanderthals, Accountable for the Bone Carving

Certainly, it is possible, too, that the researchers of this new study are totally right, that Neanderthals were definitely accountable for the bone carving.

Of course, it is also possible that the authors of the new study are completely right that Neanderthals were indeed accountable for the bone carving and that modern humans had nothing to do with it.

More so, Neanderthals, on top of their cultural contributions mentioned earlier, engaged in many other sophisticated behaviors, like caring for disabled loved ones, burying their dead, and taking care of their teeth.

Lastly, the study found that Neanderthals carved patterns onto bone is, therefore, "hardly a stretch," described this report.

The related report is shown on CRM Focus's YouTube video below: