80,000 -year -old Neanderthal boy discoveries hunting in the Algarve dunes

A team of researchers led by Portuguese paleontologist Carlos Neto de Carvalho discovered the first Neanderthal footprints on the southwest coast of Portugal, on the sites of Monte Clérigo and Telheiro Beach. These ancestral humans walked the dunes and hunted with a family.

A new one, conducted by an international investigators team and published earlier this month in the Scientific Reportsconfirms the presence of Neanderthals in the Algarve, and reveals fascinating details About your diet, social behavior and adaptation to coastal ecosystems.

The investigation was led by the paleontologist Carlos Neto de Carvalhoresearcher at the Dom Luiz Institute / FCUL (IDL) and scientific coordinator of Geopark Naturtejo.

The study was also attended by Mário CachãoScience Professor and Researcher at IDL, as well as investigators of institutions in Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Italy, Denmark and China.

Throughout the research, the team identified Neanderthal footprints on the southwest of Portugal, on the sites of Monte Clérigo (Aljezur) and Telheiro Beach (Vila do Bispo), which dates from about 82.000 a 78.000 years ago.

These footprints, preserved in fossilized sandstones, show how these ancestral humans walked the dunes, hunted and interacted with their environment, says the.

In Monte Clérigo, the investigators identified several footprints belonging to At least three individuals: An adult, a child between 7 and 9 years old and a small child under 2.

The footprints show how the Neanderthals sailed in the dunar landscapes, suggesting route planning and the use of these hunting environmentsexplain the study aurors.

One of the most impressive footprints is that of a small child showing a foot not yet fully developedwithout the characteristic arch of modern humans. This corresponds to what is known about the growth of Neanderthals, which was similar to ours in early childhood.

At Telheiro beach, a single footprint was found, probably from a teenager or a young womanr. Although there are no additional footprints on this site, their presence confirms that the Neanderthals inhabited these coastal areas during the Pleistocene.

These records show that neanderthals lived near the sea and took advantage of the resources it offered, although the analysis of the faunal remains in coastal sites of the Iberian Peninsula reveals that it focused mainly on Great herbivores like deerhorses and auroques, as well as leres.

A constant presence of these mammals Highlights its role as reliable dietary sources, regardless of the various environments that the Neanderthals lived, notes the study.

Also consumed animals from nearby habitatslike mollusks and fish, indicating a Flexible Food Strategy adapted to what they found in each place.

Researchers used a method called “Network Analysis”To study relations between neanderthals and other species.

Found that Horses were a key resourcebecause they appear in almost all the sites analyzed; However, animals such as hippos or porcas spine were much less common in their diet, probably because they were harder to hunt or less abundant.

Family life and hunting in the dunes

The footprints in Monte Clérigo reveal that the Neanderthals lived in small family groups.

The presence of children’s footprints with those of adults indicates that the younger members accompanied adults in their daily activitiespossibly learning early as surviving in a challenging environment.

In addition, animal footprints found in the same place, such as deer, suggest that neanderthals They used the dunes to hunt. In one of the rails, for example, there is evidence of interaction between human footprints and deer, suggesting persecution or ambush, notes the FCUL in.

The dunes, with their irregular ground and scarce vegetation, were ideal places for Pursue preyexplains the study. This is aligned with other places, such as Matalascañas in Spain, where neanderthal footprints were found along with stone tools and hunted animals.

The study adds New pieces to the puzzle of the life of the Neanderthals And it reinforces the idea that they were much more adaptable than previously thought, taking advantage of coastal resources and varying their diet depending on food availability.

The footprints are also direct evidence of your presence at a time when sea levels were lower and the most exposed back.

The rising sea levels after the last glaciation made the preservation and detection of evidence of neanderthals more difficult on the Atlantic coast, notes the study. That’s why, Each new discovery is especially valuable.

The coastal sites of the Iberian Peninsula show that the Neanderthals not only survived, but prospered in these environmentstaking advantage of a varied diet and predictable resources, the investigators conclude.