Neanderthals hunted enormous elephants that fed 100 people for a month

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The extinct straight-tusked elephant was adjacent larger than modern African elephants, making it unclear if Neanderthal hunters could instrumentality 1 down, but a recently analysed trove of bones suggests it was possible

Humans 1 February 2023

By Clare Wilson

Straight-tusked elephant bones hint astatine regular hunting and butchering by Neanderthals

Neanderthals regularly hunted and butchered elephants successful Europe thousands of years ago, according to an investigation of marks made by chromatic tools connected a trove of bones.

The find suggests the past humans either lived successful larger groups than antecedently suspected oregon that they had ways of processing the soma truthful it didn’t spoil, says Wil Roebroeks astatine Leiden University successful the Netherlands, fixed the magnitude of nutrient involved. “These elephants are truly large calorie bombs.”

There has agelong been statement implicit whether Neanderthals, distant cousins of modern humans, could person hunted the straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). These extinct giants stood 4 metres tall, making them larger than modern African elephants and woolly mammoths.

To find retired more, Roebroeks’s squad took a person look astatine elephant bones recovered alongside different carnal remains and chromatic tools successful a quarry adjacent Halle, Germany, which was dug retired from the 1980s. The bones person been dated to astir 125,000 years ago, erstwhile Neanderthals were the lone humans known to beryllium successful the area.

The remains were from much than 70 elephants, with a fewer recovered arsenic astir implicit skeletons. The marks near connected the bones suggest the animals were thoroughly butchered to get each past scrap of nutrient and abdominous – including, for lawsuit their brains and each of the bulky abdominous pads successful their feet.

There were besides fewer gnaw marks near by scavenging carnivores, suggesting small nutrient was near connected the carcass. “There’s possibly a spot of nibbling connected isolated vertebra, but astir of these remains were truthful cleanable they weren’t charismatic for carnivores,” says squad subordinate Lutz Kindler astatine the Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution successful Neuwied, Germany.

The squad has calculated that each the soma from 1 of the elephants would person fed astir 100 adults for a month. Some researchers person antecedently suggested that Neanderthals lived successful fairly tiny groups of up to astir 25 people, based connected factors specified arsenic the size of their caves oregon analysis of their footprints. “There’s a cognition they lived successful tiny groups, but erstwhile you look for the evidence, there’s nothing,” says Clive Finlayson astatine the Gibraltar National Museum, who wasn’t progressive successful the caller study.

If a smaller radical of, say, 25 radical had killed an elephant, they would person had to walk astir 3 to 5 days moving to portion the carcass of soma and processing it truthful that it wouldn’t spoil, for lawsuit by drying oregon smoking it, says Roebroeks. The marks connected the bones mean the nutrient wasn’t simply near to rot erstwhile the Neanderthals had eaten their fill.

The squad recovered a higher proportionality of antheral and older elephants among the remains, suggesting that the Neanderthals were specifically targeting these animals, alternatively than scavenging from ones that had died of earthy causes.

This makes immoderate sense, arsenic successful modern elephants older males thin to unrecorded alone. Targeting loners would making hunting easier, says Roebroeks, arsenic they could beryllium driven into traps oregon muddy shores. “Large mammals are [easier] to termination arsenic agelong arsenic you are capable to bounds their mobility, and past they are finished disconnected with spears,” helium says.

Previous enactment has shown that Neanderthals may person cleared forests successful the portion wherever the bones were found, which besides supports the thought they lived successful larger groups.

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