An original protein analysis confirms that the jewelry cave of Arcy-sur-Cure in Yonne (Burgundy) was indeed occupied by Neanderthals 40,000 years ago.
Neanderthal carved ivories found in the cave of Arcy-sur-Cure in Burgundy.
Coquet, Neanderthal? We already knew that it adorned itself with eagle claws 130,000 years ago. It is now estimated that 40,000 years ago, he wore – and probably made – lovely charms or necklaces decorated with animal teeth, shells or carved ivory (see photo). This is suggested by an analysis of proteins discovered in the cave of Arcy-sur-Cure, in Burgundy, and carried out by German, British, French and Dutch researchers under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Hublin, of the Institut Max Planck of Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany). The news is far from being trivial, because the supposed coquetry of the Neanderthals of France, indeed divided the community for nearly 50 years.
Since its discovery, and especially its long excavation by André Leroi Gourhan (between 1947 and 1963), the site of Arcy-sur-Cure has been much discussed and has fueled the fascinating question of the transition between Neanderthals and modern humans in Europe. Indeed, it was occupied at a pivotal period in prehistory, 40,000 years ago, when modern humans landed from Africa and while the Neanderthals – present for more than 200,000 years on the Old Continent –, faded...until they disappeared.
The end of a scientific quarrel?
However, the Renne cave in Arcy yielded the famous necklaces but also bone tools, characteristic of a culture called the Châtelperronian, from the name of the first site where this culture was identified. In Arcy-sur-Cure, Châtelperronian objects are – for once – associated with the fossil remains of Neanderthals. Hence the scientific dispute. Some paleo-anthropologists, such as Dominique Baffier, logically attributed the tools and jewelry from the Renne cave to Neanderthals. Others, like Jean-Jacques Hublin, have long considered that Neanderthals were incapable of making such objects and had borrowed them, bartered them with modern men. At a pinch, some researchers wanted to imagine that they had been able to imitate the know-how of the new arrivals Homo sapiens . How to explain that this know-how suddenly appeared among the Neanderthals 40,000 years ago, at the time of the arrival of Homo sapiens, accomplished craftsman, in Europe ?
The new publication provides an argument in favor of pro-Neanderthals. Matthew Collins, from the University of York (UK), Jean-Jacques Hublin, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany) and their colleagues used an original protein analysis technique to study the chemical composition of human remains discovered in the Renne cave. “By combining paleo-proteomics and paleo-genetics, we were able to prove that bone fragments found in the cave originated from the skull of an infant Neanderthal child “, explains Frido Welker, of Max Planck. The sequencing of ancient Neanderthal genomes had in fact made it possible to discover proteins typical of these Homo . Those discovered at Arcy were very similar, but also characteristic of childhood proteins. Conclusion ? Jean-Jacques Hublin says it best:“You can imagine all sorts of scenarios, but the simplest explanation is that this assemblage of objects was produced by Neanderthals. We find in the same levels, “manufacturing waste” of ivory objects. These were therefore produced on site. ” .