Discovery “Fat Factory” with 125,000 years of Neanderthals in Germany

The discovery in Germany precedes the oldest evidence so far known to maximize the extraction of calories from the meat.

A new published in Science reveals that Neanderthals, our closest extinct human relatives, developed a surprisingly sophisticated method for about 125,000 years to extract fat from animal bones.

The investigation gives clues about the eating strategies of the Neanderthals, demonstrating that they not only hunted large animals, such as horses, deer and cattle, but also intensively processed the carcasses to extract the maximum caloriesespecially fat.

The study is based on findings on the archaeological site of Neumark-Nord in the current Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Researchers discovered 2000 bone fragments Belonging to 172 large animals, many of whom had been deliberately crushed by neanderthals using the anvils and stone percutors. The bones were fractured to aim at areas especially rich in fat. Evidence was also found that the bones were later boiled, probably to extract fat.

This fat extraction process represents an early form of “resource intensification” – that is, maximize the caloric return of available materials. Remarkably, this behavior precedes almost 100,000 years The oldest evidence so far known of this type of practice.

Fat was essential for Neanderthals, whose diet was mainly based on meat. Excessive consumption of fat -free protein or carbohydrates can cause a fatal condition called protein poisoning. Fat, which provides more than double the calories by grass compared to protein or hydrates, would be a vital energy source.

The discovery also suggests that neanderthals could have some kind of food storage or long -term planning. The ability to process and eventually conserve fat reveals more sophisticated survival strategies than thought.

Lutz Kindler, main author of the study and researcher at the Monrepos Archaeological Research Center in Germany, stressed the broader implications of the discovery. “We know a lot about the hunting tactics, the habits and the consumption of meat and bone marrow of the Neanderthals, but to a much less degree on all processes after hunting and slaughtering it,” he told the, stressing them significant parallels between their behavior and ours.

In fact, this evidence reinforces an increasingly clear view of Neanderthals as intelligent, adaptable and ingenious beings. Previous archaeological discoveries had already revealed that they manufactured tools, glues and even possibly art. This new study contributes to undoing the outdated image of Neanderthal as primitive or rudimentary.