The way that Neanderthals had the option to make a fire and use it, in addition to other things, for cooking, shows their knowledge. “This affirms our perceptions and speculations from past investigations,” says Diego Angelucci, prehistorian at the College of Trento and co-creator of the review.
“Neanderthals were fit for representative ideas, could make imaginative articles, knew how to design their bodies utilizing individual adornments, and had an incredibly fluctuating diet. Add to that the fact that, in light of our discoveries, we can say with certainty that they constantly ate prepared food. This capacity affirms that they were essentially as gifted as the Homo sapiens who lived centuries after the fact.”
Yet, how could we discover that Neanderthals knew how to utilize fire? “There is an overall understanding among archeologists that they knew how to utilize fire. Nonetheless, one thing is to utilize fire begun by normal cycles, like lightning; another is to make it, feed it with wood, and use it for cooking, warming, and guarding. In this study, we show that there is no question that Neanderthals could make a fire and that fire was a focal component in their day-to-day existence.”
The article “Arrangement processes, fire use, and examples of human occupation across the Center Paleolithic of Gruta da Oliveira” was distributed on October 11 in PLOS ONE.
Uncovering the Gruta de Oliveira Credit: João Zilhão
Twenty years of unearthings
The article reports and looks at the remaining parts of organized fires tracked down in a similar area: the Gruta de Oliveira in focal Portugal, one of the main European archeological locales for the Center Paleolithic. What is so uncommon about this cavern is that the unearthing was directed deliberately and with extraordinary precision for over 20 years, somewhere in the range of 1989 and 2012.
The works were driven by a worldwide gathering of archeologists managed by João Zilhão (College of Lisbon), who wrote the concentrate along with Diego Angelucci (UniTrento) and Mariana Nabais (IPHES, Catalan Organization for Human Paleoecology and Social Advancement, Tarragona).
Gruta de Oliveira. Credit: João Zilhão
The cavern is essential for the Almonda karst framework, a huge organization of caverns set at various heights over an enormous spring that have been possessed in various periods during ancient times. The most seasoned layers of the Gruta de Oliveira, which incorporates various sections, date back to around quite a while back, the latest to around 40,000: It is accepted that Neanderthals occupied this spot somewhere in the range of quite a while back.
“As far as we might be concerned, Almonda is a gift that continues to give for the assortment and amount of relics and stays that we have tracked down throughout the long term: from the remaining parts tracing all the way back to the Lower Paleolithic to the chipped stones of the Mousterian culture, there is truly everything,” Angelucci remarks.
Hearths and food remain.
For this situation, be that as it may, what grabbed the eye of archeologists were the hints of hearths deliberately fabricated and utilized in the cavern. The archeologists tracked down around twelve hearths at different stratigraphic levels in a removal area of around 30 square meters and six meters down. The undeniable bowl-like, round structures were loaded up with remains.
Discoveries from inside and close to the hearths show that the occupants of the caverns used to prepare their food. “We found consumed bones, consumed wood, and debris remains. Furthermore, the stone under—proceeding with Angelucci—has been blushed by the intensity. This is an urgent detail since it lets us know that the design is in an essential position. Also, it has been there forever. Fire is a key component in their regular routines. It makes the spot agreeable and helps socialization. It offers back that essential thought of ‘home’ that maybe could likewise apply to them.”
Uncovering the Gruta de Oliveira Credit: João Zilhão
A shifted diet
What did Neanderthals eat? “We had the option to figure out what they ate and, surprisingly, the cooking methods they utilized. We tracked down the remaining parts and consumed the bones of cooked goats, deer, ponies, aurochs (wiped-out bulls), rhinos, and turtles, which were likely laid on their carapace and stewed on hot stones.”
“Meat was on the menu in this inland cavern; however, in different unearthings in caves disregarding the western Mediterranean Ocean close to Cartagena (Spain), remains of fish, mussels, and mollusks, even simmered pine nuts, were found. We had previously shown in 2020 in one more paper that showed up in Science that Neanderthals had a changed eating regimen; however, the Portuguese unearthings have additionally affirmed that they utilized fire to prepare food.”
In spite of the unearthings, the archeologists couldn’t decide how the Neanderthals lit a fire.
“Maybe they did as in Neolithic times, striking stone rocks against one more stone to toss sparkles on a kindling, like a dry home, for instance. This is an ancient method that was found by concentrating on Ötzi, the Ice Man. Up to this point, be that as it may, we have tracked down no proof of this.”
Unearthing a progression of layers that cover 30,000 years, in any case, offered archeologists the chance to contrast the information and different locales in the very region that date back to the Upper Paleolithic and include a later period where Homo sapiens were affirmed nearby. “We tracked down no distinction; they hid away far from anyone else in comparable ways. Their abilities are likewise an indication of insight. They didn’t have a place with various animal categories; I would agree that they were different human structures.”
The review
This article addresses the conclusion of a long information investigation that inspected 30 years of discoveries. The Portuguese group of João Zilhão concentrated on the stone devices, while Mariana Nabais broke down the bone remaining parts and directed spatial examinations to analyze the place of the tracks down in the cavern and the area of the flames.
The examination gathering of the College of Trento (Division of Humanities) zeroed in on stratigraphy and minuscule investigations. “We depended on the strategies of interdisciplinary paleohistory, starting with location studies, fastidious removal, exact situating of the relative multitude of finds, deliberate sieving, the exact technique for gathering information in the field, and the assortment of tests for resulting examination under the magnifying lens or in the research facility. This sort of paleontology is completed with the most developed systems. They call for investment and assets, and this is the thing we show our understudies.”
More information: Diego E. Angelucci et al, Formation processes, fire use, and patterns of human occupation across the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5a-5b) of Gruta da Oliveira (Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal), PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292075
