🌅 Neanderthals Were Actually Skilled Woodworkers

SOURCE

Saladié et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by researchers at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Spain describes 597 wooden artifacts recovered at Abric Romaní, an ancient rock shelter near Barcelona that was inhabited by Neanderthals for thousands of years. The first-of-its-kind trove includes the remains or resin-filled impressions of wood trays, poles, plates, and weapons, among other items, including 13 objects that were clearly shaped by human hands.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The collection of items is remarkable since—for obvious reasons—most surviving artifacts from the Paleolithic period are made of stone, not wood. Experts say the trove offers an unprecedented look at the day-to-day life of Neanderthals, including how wood was probably much more important to their lives than the archaeological record currently suggests. The diversity of objects also underscores the vast repertoire of woodworking skills our ancient cousins possessed, suggesting they were craftspeople roughly on par with our own species.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Until now, most wooden Neanderthal artifacts discovered by archaeologists have been digging tools and weapons found at open-air sites in Italy and Germany. However, the items described in the present study are even more special since Abric Romaní was a living space which appears to have been repeatedly inhabited by Neanderthals. The roughly 3,200-square-foot shelter has been excavated by generations of archaeologists since the 1980s, uncovering 19 sandy layers of archaeological finds. The different layers have been dated to between 62,000 and 40,000 years ago, though core samples from unexcavated layers show people living at the shelter as early as 110,000 years ago.