Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France

(02 June 2016)

doi:10.1038/nature18291

Received: 19 August 2015
Accepted: 27 April 2016
Published online: 25 May 2016; Very little is known about Neanderthal cultures¹, particularly early ones. Other than lithic implements and exceptional bone tools², very few artefacts have been preserved. While those that do remain include red and black pigments³ and burial sites⁴, these indications of modernity are extremely sparse and few have been precisely dated, thus greatly limiting our knowledge of these predecessors of modern humans⁵. Here we report the dating of annular constructions made of broken stalagmites found deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwest France. The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites and several traces of fire demonstrate the anthropogenic origin of these constructions. Uranium-series dating of stalagmite regrowths on the structures and on burnt bone, combined with the dating of stalagmite tips in the structures, give a reliable and replicated age of 176.5 thousand years (±2.1 thousand years), making these edifices among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans. Their presence at 336 metres from the entrance of the cave indicates that humans from this period had already mastered the underground environment, which can be considered a major step in human modernity.

The Neanderthal sculpture garden – L’ultimo teorema di Fermat – The Last Question