New Evidence About Neanderthals: Colour, Diet, Touch

Recent studies have changed views of Neanderthal behavior. Researchers have examined ochre fragments from rock shelters in Crimea and found that three pieces were deliberately shaped, resharpened and engraved. The objects were recovered from layers that are tens of thousands of years old, and microscopic analysis has shown patterns of wear that are consistent with drawing or marking. While practical uses for ochre remain possible, the curated shaping and reuse of these pieces have been interpreted as evidence of symbolic practice.

Other work has challenged simple ideas about Neanderthal diet. Stable nitrogen isotope tests have shown very high nitrogen values in Neanderthal remains, and a 2025 experimental study has found that fly larvae on decaying meat can have much higher nitrogen-15 than the meat itself. Therefore frequent consumption of maggots could partly explain bone chemistry that previously implied extreme meat diets. A separate comparative analysis of primate behaviour has reconstructed kissing as an ancient trait in great apes and has inferred that Neanderthals likely engaged in nonaggressive mouth-to-mouth contact. Genetic studies have long shown that early modern humans and Neanderthals interbred, so intimate contact between groups is firmly established.