Study Finds Neanderthals, Modern Humans Shared Culture in Turkey 59,000 Years Ago
Updated
Updated · Livescience.com · Jul 6
Study Finds Neanderthals, Modern Humans Shared Culture in Turkey 59,000 Years Ago
3 articles · Updated · Livescience.com · Jul 6
Summary
Üçağızlı II Cave layers show Neanderthals occupied the site from about 77,000 to 59,000 years ago and Homo sapiens from roughly 59,000 to 47,000 years ago, yet both left strikingly similar traces.
PNAS researchers linked the groups through matching hunting strategies, stone-tool technology and use of the same local flint sources, with both targeting wild goats, deer and boar.
Twenty-nine Columbella rustica shells found across the layers suggest shared symbolic behavior; some were pierced for stringing, and one Neanderthal-era shell was deliberately heated to change its color.
The cave sits on a corridor between the Levant and Eurasia, and the authors argue the cultural continuity points to contact between the two groups rather than separate adaptation alone.
The findings align with recent evidence from Israel's Tinshemet Cave and challenge older views that Neanderthals and modern humans in the region maintained sharply different cultures.
Could ancient jewelry prove Neanderthals and modern humans were cultural neighbors, not strangers?
Did our ancestors simply replace Neanderthals, or did their cultures merge before one vanished?
If Neanderthals shared our ancestors' culture, why are we the only humans left?
Shared Material Culture at Üçağızlı II Cave Reveals Neanderthal-Modern Human Interaction 59,000 Years Ago
Overview
A recent study published in PNAS reveals that Neanderthals and modern humans at Üçağızlı II Cave in southern Turkey, about 59,000 years ago, shared material culture such as sophisticated stone tools and symbolic marine shells. This discovery highlights an unprecedented cultural continuity in the archaeological layers, showing that both groups were not just coexisting but actively participating in similar cultural traditions and sharing knowledge. These findings challenge the old view that Neanderthals and modern humans had distinct cultural practices, offering a new perspective on their interactions and cognitive abilities.