New research suggests Neanderthals were into interior decorating, and their tastes were similar to modern humans'.
"There has been this idea that Neanderthals did not have an organized use of space, something that has always been attributed to humans," Julien Riel-Salvatore, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver and lead author of the study said in a news release. "But we found that Neanderthals did not just throw their stuff everywhere but in fact were organized and purposeful when it came to domestic space."
The researchers excavated a collapsed rock shelter in northwest Italy where Neanderthals and later humans are believed to have lived. The team was looking to compare how the two groups organized their space.
There were three levels on the site that belonged to Neanderthals; the team found the early humanoids had different areas of their cave designated for specific purposes. The top level was believed to have been used as a hunting stand where game was prepared. The middle level was a "long-term base camp," and the bottom was a short-term residential area.
"We found some ochre throughout the sequence but we are not sure what it was used for," Riel-Salvatore said. "Neanderthals could have used it for tanning hides, for gluing, as an antiseptic or even for symbolic purposes - we really can't tell at this point."
The middle level had the most evidence of the Neanderthal's lifestyle such as stone tools and a hearth.
"When you make stone tools there is a lot of debris that you don't want in high traffic areas or you risk injuring yourself," Riel-Salvatore said. "There are clearly fewer stone artifacts in the back of the shelter near the hearth."
The bottom level contained shellfish and more stone objects suggesting additional tool production.
"This is ongoing work, but the big picture in this study is that we have one more example that Neanderthals used some kind of logic for organizing their living sites," Riel-Salvatore said. "This is still more evidence that they were more sophisticated than many have given them credit for. If we are going to identify modern human behavior on the basis of organized spatial patterns, then you have to extend it to Neanderthals as well."
