Researchers found Neanderthals from different regions had different weapon and tool "styles."
A team of scientists found two distinct cultural traditions among the ancient people, something that has never been seen before, a University of Southampton press release reported.
"In Germany and France there appears to be two separate hand axe traditions, with clear boundaries, indicating completely separate, independent developments," Dr. Karen Ruebens from the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO), said.
Ruebens and her team found the area that is now Belgium and the Netherlands showed a transition between the two "cultures."
"The transition zone in Belgium and Northern France indicates contact between the different groups of Neanderthals, which is generally difficult to identify but has been much talked about, especially in relation to later contacts with groups of modern humans. This area can be seen as a melting pot of ideas where mobile groups of Neanderthals, both from the eastern and western tradition, would pass by - influencing each other's designs and leaving behind a more varied record of bifacial tools," Ruebens said.
The Western regions, such as France and Britain, produced "symmetrical, triangular and heart-shaped hand axes." In the Eastern region "asymmetrically shaped bifacial knives" were the norm.
"Distinct ways of making a hand axe were passed on from generation to generation and for long enough to become visible in the archaeological record. This indicates a strong mechanism of social learning within these two groups and says something about the stability and connectivity of the Neanderthal populations," Ruebens said.
"Making stone tools was not merely an opportunistic task. A lot of time, effort and tradition were invested and these tools carry a certain amount of socio-cultural information, which does not contribute directly to their function," she said.
The researchers also suggest the tools' design could have been based on what materials were readily available.
