Neanderthals Were Efficient Homemakers, Study

Neanderthals weren't the dumb cousins of Homo sapiens, but were in fact highly organized species who knew how to organize their living spaces, just like modern humans, a new study suggests.

Neanderthals are looked down upon as a kind of subhuman species who lost the battle against humans. However, recent research has shown that the species was intelligent and even capable of creating highly functional tools to adapt to newer ecological zones.

The latest study shows they knew the importance of organizing living space. Sure, they didn't build complex houses with plumbing, but they had a rudimentary idea of separating a task area from the living area.

The new study was conducted by archaeologists at University of Colorado Denver. The research team studied Riparo Bombrini, which is a collapsed rock shelter in northwest Italy. Both Neanderthals and humans have called this site their home at different times.

Julien Riel-Salvatore, assistant professor of anthropology at the University and colleagues found that Neanderthals divided the cave into three sites and used them to conduct different activities such as living quarters, task sites-used for butchering animals- and a long-term base camp.

Researchers also found evidence of ochre-use in the back of the shelter. "We found some ochre throughout the sequence but we are not sure what it was used for," Riel-Salvatore said in a news release. "Neanderthals could have used it for tanning hides, for gluing, as an antiseptic or even for symbolic purposes - we really can't tell at this point."

Also, Neanderthals didn't just scatter their tools, but kept them at a place where risk of injury was low. They even placed the hearth at the back of the cave, so that the heat could be circulated around the living spaces.

Stone artifacts were found at the mouth of the cave, suggesting that tool making must have occurred at the mouth due to availability of sunlight. The team also found shellfish fragments, showing that Neanderthals ate seafood.

The study is published in the Canadian Journal of Archaeology.

According to popular theories, Neanderthals diverged from the primate line that gave rise to modern humans about 400,000 years. This group then moved to Eurasia and completely disappeared from the world about 30,000 years back. Other studies have shown that Neanderthals might have lived near the Arctic Circle around 31,000 to 34,000 years ago.