Neanderthals living in southern Europe were such avid fans of shellfish that they likely knew exactly when to capture mollusks for a quick bite to eat. For those who occupied the Los Aviones cave in Spain 115,000 years ago, the best strategy was to collect mollusks during colder months of the year, a plan that scientists originally thought only modern humans were capable of constructing.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has uncovered evidence that Neanderthals in southern Spain purposefully consumed shellfish seasonally. Identifying mollusk remains that carried clues on ancient seawater temperatures, researchers determined that Neanderthals would’ve often eaten mollusks between November and April to get the most meat and flavor possible. This shows that Neanderthals weren’t your run-of-the-mill foodies — they were strategists with effective eating schedules.
“They consumed marine resources throughout the year, but with a very clear preference for winter and autumn months. This pattern, very similar to that developed by more recent populations of modern humans in Europe and other regions, cannot be coincidental,” said lead author Asier García-Escárzaga, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in a statement.
Read More: Our Human Ancestors Started Hauling Fish Out of the Water 2 Million Years Ago
Neanderthal Life in the Iberian Peninsula
Phorcus turbinatus lab specimen
(Image Credit: ICTA-UAB)
Neanderthals had a long history in the Iberian Peninsula, where they lived up until their extinction around 40,000 years ago. Previous research has suggested that caves across the Iberian Peninsula — including Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar and Teixoneres Cave in Catalonia — may have been refuges for some of the last Neanderthals in existence.
According to the study authors, the ability of Neanderthals in southern Europe to exploit marine resources in an organized manner has been disputed in the past; taking a seasonal approach to shellfish consumption has largely been considered a trait of modern humans rather than Neanderthals.
To see if Neanderthals truly matched the smarts of humans when it came to shellfish collecting, researchers traveled to Los Aviones cave near the coastal city of Cartagena in southeastern Spain, once home to Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic era. Here, they recovered remains of small gastropods (a group of invertebrates that includes snails) and limpets.
Getting the Most Out of Shellfish
Next, the researchers needed to find out what time of year these mollusks would’ve been consumed by Neanderthals. They accomplished this by checking oxygen isotope signals that were preserved in the shells of the mollusks, which correlate with seawater temperature.
“By reconstructing variation during shell growth, these values act as a prehistoric thermometer. This makes it possible to infer temperature changes as well as the exact time of year when a mollusk was collected, revealing new details about seasonal consumption patterns,” said García-Escárzaga.
Analysis of the oxygen isotopes in the mollusk remains revealed that the Neanderthals living at Los Aviones cave understood the best time to obtain and eat shellfish based on marine ecological cycles; throughout autumn and winter, certain mollusks have more meat and improved flavor and texture, according to the study authors.
Neanderthals also may have passed on shellfish during summer to avoid exposure to toxic algae brought on by warmer temperatures; heat would've also caused the shellfish to rapidly decompose.
Neanderthals' planning around the seasons proves they were surprisingly resourceful, devising an effective strategy for eating shellfish, just as modern humans would eventually do.
A Reliable Resource
In addition to eating shellfish, the Neanderthals of Los Aviones cave also have another claim to fame involving marine mollusks; a 2018 study in Science found evidence that they painted shells with red and yellow pigments, which may be one of the earliest examples of Neanderthals making art.
Elsewhere in southern Europe, other groups of Neanderthals made use of shellfish in more ways than one. A 2020 study in PLOS One found that Neanderthals who occupied Grotta dei Moscerini, a cave on the western coast of Italy, modified shells and used them as scrapers 100,000 years ago, likely diving in the Mediterranean Sea to collect them. And in a 2023 study in Frontiers, researchers unearthed 90,000-year-old remains of brown crabs at the site of Gruta de Figueira Brava in Portugal, which Neanderthals would've cracked open to get meat.
Whether used for tools or snacks, shellfish were a vital resource for Neanderthals who called Southern Europe home.
This article's headline has been updated by Discover Staff for clarification.
Read More: From DNA to the Fossil Record, Here's Why We Have a Good Idea of What Neanderthals Looked Like
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article includes information from a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Seasonal shellfish exploitation by Neanderthals 115,000 years ago
- This article includes information from a study published in Science: U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art
- This article includes information from a study published in PLOS One: Neandertals on the beach: Use of marine resources at Grotta dei Moscerini (Latium, Italy)
- This article includes information from a study published in Frontiers: The exploitation of crabs by Last Interglacial Iberian Neanderthals: The evidence from Gruta da Figueira Brava (Portugal)
