Scientists claim to have found compelling evidence that Neanderthals were already capable of symbolic thinking some 50,000 years ago. Calling someone 'stupid Neanderthal' is no longer an option.
In 'Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS), the British research team led by Professor Joao Zilhoa (Bristol University) talks about their discovery:they discovered processed shells - some filled with mineral pigment - at two archaeological sites in the Murcia province in Southern Spain. According to the scientists, the shells were used by the Neanderthals as old make-up boxes and as jewelry.
Jewelry and cosmetics
Zilhoa's team found clumps of yellow pigment on the Spanish site, which may have been used as a foundation. They also found red powder mixed with flakes of a shimmering black mineral. The pigment residues in the shells are the first indisputable evidence for the use of cosmetics," the professor tells the BBC news.
The brightly colored, carved shells had holes in some cases. For this reason, the archaeologists assume that they were used by the Neanderthals as jewelry, or as decoration of ritual objects.
Symbolic thinking
Such finds have previously emerged from Africa that are attributed to modern humans. These objects also served as physical embellishments. Scientists saw this as evidence of the symbolic thinking capabilities of the first modern man.
The absence of such finds in Europe led to the assumption that symbolic thinking was not an issue in the contemporaneous civilization of the Neanderthals in Europe. A sign of mental inferiority, which scientists believe would explain why modern humans have replaced Neanderthals.
According to Professor Zilhao, the recent find disproves the assumption of Neanderthals as unintelligent half-soles. The wearing of shells as jewelry and the use of primitive make-up indicate the desire of the Neanderthal to distinguish himself from the other. They had a sense of their own identity, which they tried to emphasize through cosmetics and jewellery. They were therefore capable of symbolic thinking, just like their modern contemporary from Africa.
Imaging
Professor Chris Stringer, paleontologist at the Natural History museum in London agrees with Professor Zilhoa. “The finds prove that the Neanderthals were less simple than we thought. But adjusting our image is difficult," he says. “The Neanderthal as an uncivilized caveman is so embedded in our culture that we even use him as a metaphor in our language for a stupid, uneducated human being.”