125,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Site Shows Evidence of Bone Grease Processing

Neanderthal Bone Grease Processing

Recent research indicates that Neanderthals living in present-day Germany around 125,000 years ago collected significant quantities of animal bones at a specific site, where they processed these bones to extract bone grease. This activity contributed to their dietary intake by providing additional nutrients.

Dietary Practices and Nutritional Needs

"Muscle meat – the stuff that we like to throw on the barbecue – was generally considered by ancient hunter-gatherers to be dog's food," says study author Wil Roebroeks from Leiden University. "You can only consume 300 grams of protein a day [and stay healthy]… so you need a lot of other carbohydrates or fat to reach your daily energy requirements," he tells IFLScience.

It is established that Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens used bone grease to supplement their diets. According to Roebroeks, they processed grease-rich bones into small fragments, which required significant time and effort, and likely heated these fragments in water to separate the fat.

New Evidence from Neumark-Nord

Prior to this study, there was no evidence of large-scale bone grease processing before 28,000 years ago, after Neanderthals had disappeared. The new findings document that bone-grease rendering occurred at the Neanderthal site of Neumark-Nord, where remains of 172 large mammals, such as horses and deer, were found.

"The [...] assemblage testifies to the creation of tens of thousands of small fragments, mainly derived from fat-rich bones, for marrow and grease production, a substantial investment by the site’s occupants of both time and effort aimed at retrieving precious lipids from a large number of prey animals," write the researchers. "The evidence [...] constitutes the earliest clear case of intensive grease-rendering yet documented for the Paleolithic."

Bones and fragments from Neumark-Nord provide evidence for bone grease extraction.

Context of Neanderthal Technology

Roebroeks notes that this finding aligns with previous evidence of Neanderthal technological abilities, such as producing pitch from birch bark 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals developed techniques for controlling the temperature of their adhesive production furnaces, and the evidence of bone grease rendering is consistent with their known cognitive skills.

"But the interesting thing is that it takes away a bit of that idea that these were immediate-return societies, which were focused on the here and now and didn't invest in any way in future activities," says Roebroeks. "I think it opens up the possibility that they may have been involved in storage of food," he adds.

Implications for Neanderthal Behavior

The authors suggest that the large quantity of bones may have been collected over time and then brought to Neumark-Nord for intensive processing. This behavior indicates planning and the possibility of food storage by Neanderthals.

The method of bone grease consumption is not yet fully understood. The study authors propose it could have been stored in dried form or added to vegetable stews to increase nutritional value.

The study is published in the journal Science Advances.