Neanderthal Spears and a Mystery Club at Abric Romaní
Wood almost never survives 60,000 years. At a rock shelter near Barcelona, enough of it did to show what Neanderthals built when they were not working stone.
Researchers from IPHES-CERCA and Universitat Rovira i Virgili studied 597 wooden remains and imprints from Abric Romaní, in Capellades, Spain. Most are trunks, branches, twigs, roots and piles of firewood. Out of that large pile, the team identified 13 pieces that Neanderthals made or used. The remains come from 16 archaeological levels and date from roughly 62,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Two spears and a puzzle
Two wooden spears came from Level R. One measures 2.45 meters and suits close-range thrusting. The other survives at 1.99 meters and has a deliberately shaped, pointed tip.
A club-like object from Level P stands out. Someone carved it from a single piece of wood, with a handle at one end and a thick, pointed end at the other. The researchers do not know what it was for.
Furniture, containers and firewood
The team also describes possible bark containers or trays, and crossed poles that may have formed part of a raised platform for preparing food. A straight piece 5.10 meters long may have served as a structural element, and another object may be part of a hut-like structure. The firewood piles show different ways of collecting, carrying and storing fuel.
Josep Vallverdu of IPHES-CERCA summed it up: Neanderthal technology extended far beyond stone.
Some interpretations here, such as the platform and the containers, carry the word possible for a reason. They describe likely uses, not proven ones. This summary relies on Archaeology Magazine’s report of the paper.
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