Neanderthal symbolism
Pigments, eagle talons, marked bones and possibly painted cave walls — and a long argument about what they mean.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 70 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 10 thousand years
- Era
- Late Pleistocene, Quaternary
Perforated eagle talons from Krapina, pigment-stained shells from Cueva de los Aviones, a cross-hatched engraving at Gorham's Cave, and deep-cave stalagmite structures at Bruniquel built 176,000 years ago all indicate behaviour beyond subsistence. Uranium-thorium dates put some Spanish cave paintings before 64,000 years ago, which would make them Neanderthal work; the dating has been contested vigorously. The broader pattern is now hard to dismiss, even where individual cases stay disputed.