Posted on 05/25/2016 7:10:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Deep in a dark cave in southwestern France lie half a dozen mysterious structures that scientists believe were built by Neanderthals 176,000 years ago -- about 140,000 years before the first modern humans arrived in Europe.
The structures, described Wednesday in the journal Nature, are located in what is known as the Bruniquel Cave. They are made of roughly 400 pieces of stalagmites, all roughly, almost eerily, the same size.
Archaeologists say these mineral formations were probably broken off the cave floor by ancient hands and then deliberately arranged into two large rings and a series of four round piles up to 15 inches high.
If all the pieces were gathered up and placed on a scale, they would weigh 2.4 tons.
they may have been used to contain fire, perhaps to light the cave.
Experts say the assemblages are unlike anything else in the historical record. It is still unclear exactly what purpose they served -- whether some type of domestic use or a ritual or symbolic behavior.
Regardless, they represent some of the earliest known constructions made by hominids, as well as the earliest known evidence of cave use by early humans. They also suggest that early Neanderthals may have had better control over fire than was previously thought.
And perhaps most intriguingly, the study authors say that the group responsible for the mysterious construction must have had a fairly sophisticated social structure.
"Building these structures was a project. It required an objective which has been discussed among several people and enough social organization to assign tasks," said Jacques Jaubert of the University of Bordeaux in France and the first author on the study. "Certainly, it was a collective work."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
ping
Better take pictures quick.
Islamic Muslims will certainly destroy it forever once they become Mayor.
can you post the picture of the structure. unless you have a subscription to the LA times you can’t read the article.
Picture here:
More pictures here:
(select images tab)
Ok call me crazy but the pictures do not look like a manmade structure to me. This seems super speculative, at best.
Interesting. Will try to look it up the next time I’m in the Midi.
Some scientists just make it up as they go...I think this is one of those situations
Neanderthals Feng Shui.
“... deliberately arranged into two large rings and a series of four round piles up to 15 inches high.|
That is positively an artificial structure.
But it could be done by one guy in a couple of days if his torches held out.
It looks like it was done by one of those remodeling Neanderthals that takes your money and never finishes the job.
Doesn't take a lot of brain power to move 12 lb rocks from point A to point B.
How much tax dollars did this one cost to dream up??
Ants, termites, bees, wasps, elephants, apes. monkeys, dolphins, whales, lions, chickens and beavers have “fairly sophisticated social structures”.
Looks like a dildo collection.
And I bet this is a lot closer to the truth than most of the guesses. Celebration of sexuality or something politically incorrect like that.
Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals:
100,000 Years of Lost History
by Colin Wilson
Thanks BenLurkin.
I would suggest they are natural formations
I see no strong evidence for Neanderthal involvement beyond the need of a modern day reputation builder
That should be easy enough to determine, as the remnants of ash would remain detectable in the soil.
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