Research results show that Neanderthals who lived in two caves in northern Israel used the same tools and hunted the same animals, but their methods of preparing meat were distinctly different. This implies that there were several groups with different behaviors within the overall Neanderthal population.
A joint research team from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Natural History Museum in London, England, announced on the 17th (local time) the results of their comparative analysis of animal bones discovered in the Amud and Kebara caves in northern Israel. The study was published in the international academic journal "Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology" on the same day.
Both regions were inhabited by Neanderthals during the winter season approximately 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. They caught game such as gazelles and deer using stone tools to provide food.
The researchers discovered that the knife marks left on the animal bones were clearly different from each other. The knife marks found on the bones from the Amud cave were more intricate and complex, with more than 40% of the bones showing signs of burning. In contrast, the bones from the Kebara cave had simpler and more linear knife marks, with only 9% showing signs of burning.
The researchers noted, "The differences in tools or game, or in technical skill levels, cannot explain this; these differences may stem from unique food cultures or cooking habits of each group."
In particular, the researchers theorized that the Neanderthals in the Amud cave may have dried or aged the meat before processing it. In modern butcheries, if meat is aged for several days, it becomes more difficult to process, suggesting that the complex knife mark patterns observed in the Amud cave are similar to this scenario. They also raised the possibility that the knife marks became more complex as multiple people processed the same piece of meat.
Researcher Anaëlle Jallon said, "If even in nearby areas like the Amud and Kebara caves, which are about 70 km apart, the methods of preparing food differ, this could be a meat processing method passed down through generations rather than just a survival skill."
This study is significant not only for analyzing tools or game but also for illuminating the lifestyle and cultural diversity of Neanderthals. Matt Pope, a professor at University College London who did not participate in the research, commented, "This study further supports the notion that even among Neanderthals, there were differences in how tools were made and used."
Researcher Jallon stated, "These subtle differences may be clues to the sociality and cultural traditions of Neanderthals," adding that "through more experiments, we might someday be able to restore the Neanderthal recipes."
References
Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fearc.2025.1575572