A 40,000 - year - old eagle talon medallion carved by Neanderthals may have been the last of its kind before spreading to other ancient human population , raw research paint a picture .
Consisting of a individual talon taken from a Spanish Imperial Eagle , “ the last necklace made by the Neanderthals ” was find in Cova Foradada , an ancient Neanderthal cave on Europe ’s Iberian Peninsula and at the kernel of early human research for more than 30 year . It is the most modern piece of its kind from the Neanderthal menstruum , and the first to have been found in this area .
“ Neanderthals used eagle talon as symbolic element , in all likelihood as necklace pendant , from the rootage of the mid Palaeolithic , ” said study author Antonio Rodríguez - Hidalgo in astatement . Eagle talon are one of the old symbolic representation in Europe , even elderly than seashell used byHomo sapiens sapiensin northern Africa . At least 23 large raptorial bird phalanges have been establish from 10 dissimilar website – all of which add to the grounds that Neanderthals may have been more complex than we ’ve previously given them credit for .
“ grounds for the symbolic behaviour of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce , ” wrote the study authors inScience Advances . “ Among the few decoration documented , eagle talons , which were presumably used as pendants , are the most often recorded . ”
bird of Jove during this time period were scarce in many ecosystem . Because they were difficult to add up by , the trapping of birds by Neanderthals may have forge part of the " behavioral variability ” in populations . Many hunter - gatherers eat birds , but their depleted extremities are not in high spirits in nutritionary value and nigh nonexistent in the talons . Furthermore , researchers debate that marks detect on the bones of the eagle foot indicate the animal was used purely for decorative purposes . mark on the skeletal stay on one razz discover in this cave point that the pendent was made from its left leg . Analysis of clay at similar sites suggests the practice may have been widely distributed .
It ’s not the first metre researchers have get evidence of possible oafish social identity through symbolic materials . late studies have suggested the early hominid paint their bodies , carved abstract engravings , used plumage for ornamental purposes , and also participated in funerary practices and leave grave goods . The necklace “ broadens the known geographical and temporal range of such deportment ” of the Neanderthals who made this character of ornament , and is the first and oldest documentation of such behavior among the Iberian universe .
The finding upgrade questions surrounding the transmission of ideas between hominid metal money and how these practices persist through cultural and genomic shift . University of Barcelona researchers believe that the “ necklace ” belonged to the last group of Neanderthals live as the châtelperronian acculturation . These early hominids lived in Europe around the same fourth dimension thatHomo sapiens sapiensmoved northward and extended into the Middle East . The talon necklace may have been a cultural telephone exchange from Neanderthals to modern human , who began the practice after reaching Europe .
