Neanderthals built stalagmite circles

• Autores: Colin Barras
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3076, 2016, pág. 12
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • They worked by torchlight, following the same procedure hour after hour wrench a stalagmite off the cave floor, remove the tip and base, and carefully lay it with the others. Today people can only guess as to why a group of Neanderthals built a series of large stalagmite structures in a French cave--but the fact they did provides a rare glimpse into their extinct cousin's potential for social organization in a challenging environment. Gone are the days when they thought of Neanderthals as crude and unintelligent. Archaeological evidence now suggests they were capable of symbolic thought, had a basic knowledge of chemistry, medicine and cooking, and perhaps some capacity for speech. A reassessment of evidence from Bruniquel cave, near Toulouse in south-west France, suggests even more Neanderthal sophistication