Neanderthals built homes with mammoth bones
Neanderthals were not quite the primitive cavemen they are often portrayed to be – new research has revealed that they built homes out of mammoth bones.Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 44,000 year old Neanderthal building that was constructed using the bones from mammoths.
The circular building, which was up to 26 feet across at its widest point, is believed to be earliest example of domestic dwelling built from bone.
Neanderthals, which died out around 30,000 years ago, were initially thought to have been relatively primitive nomads that lived in natural caves for shelter.
The new findings, however, suggest these ancient human ancestors had settled in areas to the degree that they built structures where they lived for extended periods of time.
Analysis by researchers from the Muséum National d’Histories Naturelle in Paris also found that many of the bones had been decorated with carvings and ochre pigments.
Laëtitia Demay, an archaeologist who led the research, said: “It appears that Neanderthals were the oldest known humans who used mammoth bones to build a dwelling structure.
“This mammoth bone structure could be described as the basement of a wooden cover or as a windscreen.
“Neanderthals purposely chose large bones of the largest available mammal, the woolly mammoth, to build a structure.
“The mammoth bones have been deliberately selected – long and flat bones, tusks and connected vertebrae – and were circularly arranged.
“The use of bones as building elements can be appreciated as anticipation of climatic variations. Under a cold climate in an open environment, the lack of wood led humans to use bones to build protections against the wind.”
The bone structure was found near the town of Molodova in eastern Ukraine on a site that was first discovered in 1984. It was constructed of 116 large bones including mammoth skulls, jaws, 14 tusks and leg bones.
Inside at least 25 hearths filled with ash were also discovered, suggesting it had been used for some time.
The researchers believe that the Neanderthals both hunted and killed the mammoths for meat before using their bones but also collected some of the bones from animals that had died of natural causes.
The findings, which are to be published in the scientific journal Quaternary International add to the growing view that Neanderthals were in fact quite advanced humans who had their own culture and may have even used language to communicate.
The oldest known remains of a building ever discovered, however, are more than 500,000 years old, built by the ancient human ancestor Homo erectus on a hillside outside Tokyo using wooden posts sunk into the ground.
Simon Underdown, a senior lecturer in biological anthropology who researches Neanderthals at Oxford Brookes University, said: “It’s another piece in the newly emerging Neanderthal jigsaw puzzle.
“Far from being the stupid cavemen of popular image it’s becoming increasingly clear the Neanderthals were a highly sophisticated species of human.
“We can now add shelter building to the list of advanced behaviours that includes burying the dead, spoken language, cooking and wearing jewellery.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/8963177/Neanderthals-built-homes-with-mammoth-bones.html
Oldest known Neanderthal house found in Ukraine – made from woolly mammoth bones
Why do discoveries of ancient houses make me so happy? A 44,000 year old Neanderthal bone house has been found near Moldova in Eastern Ukraine.
It’s a nearly circular structure made from woolly mammoth bone, and it’s 26 feet wide at its widest point – that’s pretty substantial, the same width as the little church I live in. The bone house is delicately decorated with carvings and ochre pigments. 25 hearths were unearthed inside, suggesting it was inhabited over a long period of time.
Now it appears Neanderthals weren’t really the stupid “cavemen” we thought they were: evidence is growing that they cooked vegetables, buried their dead, produced jewelry and sophisticated tool sets, and probably had language.
They ostensibly disappeared just 10,000 yeas after modern man arrived in Europe, but it seems likely that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred. More on that here.
The use of bone is likely due to its availability as well as to a scarcity of wood. There are no photographs of the dig site yet. By the way, the artist’s rendering above clearly shows a modern human, not a Neanderthal. Nice furs. Via the Telegraph and Digital Journal.
“Laëtitia Demay, an archaeologist who led the research, said: “It appears that Neanderthals were the oldest known humans who used mammoth bones to build a dwelling structure.
“This mammoth bone structure could be described as the basement of a wooden cover or as a windscreen.
“Neanderthals purposely chose large bones of the largest available mammal, the woolly mammoth, to build a structure.
“The mammoth bones have been deliberately selected – long and flat bones, tusks and connected vertebrae – and were circularly arranged.
“The use of bones as building elements can be appreciated as anticipation of climatic variations. Under a cold climate in an open environment, the lack of wood led humans to use bones to build protections against the wind.”
The bone structure … was constructed of 116 large bones including mammoth skulls, jaws, 14 tusks and leg bones.”
By the way, this is by no means the oldest hominid-built structure in the world. A simple wooden structure found outside Tokyo was built 500,000 years ago by Homo Erectus.
http://ounodesign.com/2011/12/22/neanderthal-house-mammoth-bones/
