Analyzes of 60,000-year-old vestiges found at Ein Qashish, northern Israel, contradict one of the most fundamental features of human pairs. The way of living of the Neanderthals was more versatile than thought, not simply “cavemen”.
The Near East is also known as the only region where the two populations of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens coexisted, writes the Times of Israel.
In the article published in Nature Scientific Reports, the researchers argue that “the discovery of neanderthals in the open field during the Middle Paleolithic reinforces the idea that they formed a Levant-resistant population shortly before the population of the region by H. sapiens. The new discovery of neanderthal that remains in an open site at Ein Qashish provides a clue about the way of living and the mobility of this population in northern Israel”.
The study was led by Dr. Ella Been of the Ono Academic College, along with colleagues from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the German Human Behavior Evolution Museum.
Archaeologists have analyzed a neanderthal molar and lower limbs from another one. The vestiges were found in a site that also contains tools, animal bones and some unusual objects for the period, such as marine shells, pigments and the deer of a deer.
In this regard, the researchers added that “other studies have shown that neanderthals were adapted to living in mountainous areas, while people were adapted to living in the plains. The discoveries from Ein Qashish show that Neanderthal occupied places in various topographical and ecological contexts.”
This new discovery is contrary to the generally accepted view that Neanderthals have not been able to adapt to such an environment – which is why they have disappeared. In this context, the history of the disappearance of our cousins should be rethought.
