A study in the Journal of Archaeological Science reports that Neanderthal funerary practices in the Iberian Peninsula were more complex than previously thought, including the intentional placement of bodies in selected cave locations, IFLScience reported. The team compiled all known Neanderthal and ancestral fossils from the region dated between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago, a span that overlapped their extinction.
Researchers did not find formal burials like those documented elsewhere in Europe, but they observed repeated, systematic accumulations of bodies in particular cave areas that they interpreted as a funerary manifestation. They tested alternative causes such as carnivore activity and accidental accumulation and, after ruling those out, evaluated whether the evidence reflected burials, cannibalism, or deliberate body deposition. The results indicated varied mortuary activities that pointed to social behaviors related to death.
SINC reported that the absence of formal burials did not mean a lack of funerary rituals; burial was the most recognizable in the fossil record but not the only one, and its traces could be lost over time. The team found no direct link between climatic or ecological conditions and these practices, suggesting cultural rather than environmental drivers.
Elsewhere in Europe and the Near East, Neanderthals buried their dead and displayed symbolic behavior; in Iberia, intentional deposition within caves may have served as an alternative to burial, reflecting cultural diversity among southern European groups. The Iberian Peninsula was a crossroads for different Neanderthal lineages and other ancient humans.
Produced with the assistance of a news-analysis system.