Neanderthals have been recognized as a species distinct from modern humans for quite some time. But if a trio of researchers from universities in Portugal, Italy and Spain get their way, this designation may soon change. These archaeologists believe Neanderthals were not a different species at all but instead were simply another variety of humans, a conclusion that they draw after completing an analysis of the ingenious way that Neanderthals used fire to satisfy their survival needs.
Excavation in the Gruta de Oliveira. ( João Zilhão )
The Fire-Using Neanderthals of Gruta de Oliveira
In an article from the journal PLOS ONE , archaeologists Diego E. Angelucci from the University of Trento (Italy), Mariana Nabais from the Catalan Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (Spain), and João Zilhão from the University of Lisbon detail their deep analysis of the fire-managing capacities of Neanderthal groups who lived in modern-day Portugal more than 70,000 years ago.
These particular Neanderthals found permanent shelter inside a large cave in central Portugal known as the Gruta de Oliveira, where they would not have been able to survive if they hadn’t known how to use fire for cooking, heating and light.
As the researchers discovered, the Neanderthals who occupied Gruta de Oliveira were true experts at fire management and manipulation, foreshadowing the knowledge displayed by modern humans who arrived in the region thousands of years later. It seems these humans followed the…
