Recent discoveries in a cave in what’s now Turkey indicate that Neanderthals and humans did not merely cross paths but may have shared some cultural traditions, making similar tools and collecting the same kind of shell.

Shared Traditions

According to lead author İsmail Baykara, the findings suggest that Neanderthals and humans likely shared more than just the same landscape. The remarkable continuity in technology, hunting practices, and the transport of bead-seashells is consistent with the idea that these populations interacted and shared cultural traditions over time.

The Üçağızlı II cave in southern Turkey has been known to archaeologists for some time, but the first systematic excavation began in 2020. Fossils found in the cave showed that Neanderthals inhabited the cave between 77,000 and 59,000 years ago, with humans later occupying the cave between 59,000 years ago and 47,000 years ago.

During that time, the two species made similar flint tools in a style known as Mousterian. They also hunted the same types of animals, such as wild goats, deer, and boars. The discovery of a particular type of shell from the mollusk Columbella rustica, too small to provide sustenance, in both the Neanderthal and human layers was a surprise to the researchers.

Implications

The findings suggest a much more complex picture of human and Neanderthal interactions, with multiple populations, cultural trajectories, and waves of expansion, interaction, disappearance, and replacement. The study’s authors believe that more archaeological evidence is needed to understand whether the Üçağızlı II cave was an outlier or not.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.