Did Neanderthals Only Live In Caves? Israeli Find Opens Debate About Human Forerunners
A homo sapiens skull (left) and a Neanderthal skull (right) Image by wikipedia
Neanderthals, our late Middle Paleolithic ancestors who roamed the world between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago, have long been considered been considered mere cave-dwellers, not a particularly adaptable or complex group that died out for reasons unknown.
But recent findings from an Israeli-led archaeological team has newly reignited debates over our forerunners.
The study took place in Ein Qashish, in close proximity to the Kishon River. Following an extensive dig, researches found substantial evidence to suggest that Neanderthals in the Middle East lived in open-air sites as well as caves.
This would challenge the notion of the Neanderthals as inflexible and unable to adapt to “diverse topographic and ecological contexts,” according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The findings also throw a wrench into a popular hypothesis for the disappearance of the Neanderthals. Though “traditional explanations hypothesize that Neanderthals in the Near East were unable to adapt to an increasingly dry climate,” according to the IAA, that they were found to be living in open-air areas would dispute that.
The findings were published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Contact Jesse Bernstein at [email protected] or on Twitter @__jbernstein
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
