Ancient bone carving could change the way we think about Neanderthals
By AFP - Jul 06,2021 - Last updated at Jul 06,2021
This undated handout photo released by Niedersachsisches Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege on Monday, shows an engraved giant deer bone from Einhornhohle, northern Germany (AFP photo)
PARIS — The design may be simple, but a chevron pattern etched onto a deer bone more than 50,000 years ago suggests that Neanderthals had their own artistic tradition before modern humans arrived on the scene, researchers said on Monday.
The engraving, discovered at a German cave where Neanderthals lived tens of thousands of years ago, has no obvious utility according to researchers who say the artifact sheds new light on the ill-fated species' capacity for creativity.