New hunting skills Neanderthals

The Neanderthals were good enough and agility to catch wild birds, recognized scientists. Found in Gibraltar bones declare that the data hominini hunted wild pigeons, pretrazivaci to their nests in the tops of the cliffs.

This topic is dedicated to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Briefly about it informs Internet edition of the New Scientist.

Clive Finlayson (Clive Finlayson) of the Gibraltar Museum analyzed 1724 bone rock pigeons found in the cave Gorham - one of the stops late Neanderthals. Bones of birds are noted in layers dated to 28-67 thousands of years before real time, usually up to 40-th century up to the present day, in other words before the terrain of Gibraltar there are modern people. Therefore, catching birds specifically Neanderthals, and the experience that they have not had the opportunity to learn from the CRO-magnons.

158 found bones scientists noticed prints firing, 28 - traces cuts, 15 - teeth marks. The bones with the "marks" found in 58 percent of the Neanderthal points of the cave, and also the only CRO-magnon. Ie, Neanderthals were caught and ate pigeons for a long time. Past evidence of hunting birds among the data of hominines anthropologists considered random. Neanderthal could just gather and eat dead bird, said scientists.

It is not clear how the Neanderthals were able to catch pigeons, building nests in the tops of steep cliffs. But if strong hominini got in the top, hunting for mountain goats, nobody prevented them to fish and birds. Perhaps they used snares or network of grass, suggests Finlayson.

Find researcher, along with the established not so long ago that the use of Neanderthals in food seals and dolphins, dealing a new blow to the hypothesis of food and hunting conservatism of this species Homo. Yet not so long ago it was thought that Neanderthals hunted only to the big game and it differed from the modern inhabitants of our planet. "The more similarities between Neanderthals and CRO-magnons we find fewer and fewer barriers between us," said the researcher.

Currently Finlayson and his colleagues examined the feathers of predatory birds from the cave Gorham. Scientists want to understand caught whether Neanderthals eagles and vultures deliberately because of feathers, which later was used as decorations.

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