Neanderthals Wore Eagle Talons As Jewelry 130,000 Years Ago

Live Science ^ | 3-14-2015 | Megan Gannon

[blam]

Megan Gannon
March 14, 2015

The eight eagle talons from Krapina arranged with an eagle phalanx that was also found at the site. (Luka Mjeda, Zagreb)

Long before they shared the landscape with modern humans, Neanderthals in Europe developed a sharp sense of style, wearing eagle claws as jewelry, new evidence suggests.

Researchers identified eight talons from white-tailed eagles — including four that had distinct notches and cut marks — from a 130,000-year-old Neanderthal cave in Croatia. They suspect the claws were once strung together as part of a necklace or bracelet.

"It really is absolutely stunning," study author David Frayer, an anthropology professor at the University of Kansas, told Live Science. "It fits in with this general picture that's emerging that Neanderthals were much more modern in their behavior." [Top 10 Mysteries of the First Humans]

The talons were first excavated more than 100 years ago at a famous sandstone rock-shelter site called Krapina in Croatia. There, archaeologists found more than 900 Neanderthal bones dating back to a relatively warm, interglacial period about 120,000 to 130,000 years ago. They also found Mousterian stone tools (a telltale sign of Neanderthal occupation), a hearth and the bones of rhinos and cave bears, but no signs of modern human occupation. Homo sapiens didn't spread into Europe until about 40,000 years ago

(snip)

[Conservative4Ever]

I’ll bet pet rocks went for a premium price.

[max americana]

Exactly. they were too busy accessorizing and didn’t see the writing on the wall...

[Popman]

"It fits in with this general picture that's emerging that Neanderthals were much more modern in their behavior."

First of all, just how do they know about Neanderthals behavior...?

Are they basing their opinion on watching Fred Flintstone cartoons...?

Also considering the ancients peoples have build and made things we still do not understand how they did it, with all of our modern technology tells me they were not at all different from modern man...

In some respects better...

[TalBlack]

You cannot be deceived about that which you cannot comprehend.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Oog: isn’t this just a grand set of toothpicks?
Goog: Hunk-uh.

[MotorCityBuck]

I dont understand a word you just said.

;)

[minnesota_bound]

bones of rhinos and cave bears
Going up against them with spears. Those were real hunters.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks blam.

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
in local libraries

"Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

recently posted, but I'm going to ping it anyway, so there.

• Neanderthal jewelry? Discovery sheds light on predecessors' cognitive abilities
• Zigzags on a Shell From Java Are the Oldest Human Engravings

KEYWORDS: neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals

[Alas Babylon!]

My guess is that if you cleaned these people up to first world standards--styled hair, tailored clothing, good shoes and a little tasteful jewelry, no one would turn and stare, except perhaps in admiration...

Absolutely trendy... Hipsters even!

[Does so]

The smart ones have considerable Neanderthal DNA.

They accumulated many talons.

Matthew 24: 14-30 ESV

[TruthWillWin]

Dewey Crow?

[sparklite2]

Or as Homer Simpson said, “It takes two people to make a lie, Marge. One to lie and one to listen.”

[FredZarguna]

It's not like the folks in that holler without Neanderthal DNA are all that much more sophisticated...

[FBD]

“...bones of rhinos and cave bears
Going up against them with spears.
Those were real hunters.”

-isn’t it entirely probable that the rhino and bear bones were scavenged from already dead rhinos and bears? Not only probable, but I’m guessing more likely, especially then killing a rhino.

[minnesota_bound]

Neanderthals used .45-70 spears for rhinos.
Example below.

[beebuster2000]

I wonder if they had a quarterback worth a damn back then

[FBD]

Thanks, that boggles my mind that they just had wooden spears for offensive weapons. Just seems so hard to believe that they could or even try to bring down a rhino with a wooden spears.

[colorado tanker]

Krapina

There is actually a place called Krapina? Must be in Lower Slobovia.

[blam]

"Thanks, that boggles my mind that they just had wooden spears for offensive weapons. Just seems so hard to believe that they could or even try to bring down a rhino with a wooden spears."

400,000 year old spears found in an German coal mine!

[blam]

Krapina

"Krapina is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011).[1] Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region of Croatia, approximately 55 km (34 mi) away from both Zagreb and Varaždin."