Archaeologists from the University of the Basque Country have discovered that the Neanderthals who took refuge in the caves of Lezetxiki, Lezetxiki II and Astigarragako Kobea (Guipúzcoa) saw their coexistence altered by the cave bears , with whom they had to dispute the territory a few years ago. 120,000 years.
Researchers have found lithic tools and skeletal remains of these carnivores that confirm these encounters between the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. Multiple tooth marks and scratches have been found on the discovered objects, indicating that they were given prolonged use while Neanderthals inhabited these caves.
It has also been identified in the three caves aspects of the Chatelperronian , a cultural period that has only been identified in the Cantabrian coast and in the south of France.
The Chatelperronian is the most advanced known cultural form of Neanderthals, with bone tools and ornaments that held some meaning. This technology is not common in all the fields studied, which is why it is a very attractive period that generates a lot of debate.
“This was a practically unknown time on the Cantabrian coast until a few years ago,” says Aritza Villaluenga Martinez, the researcher leading the study, to the scientific news agency SINC.
During this phase, according to the scientists, humans did not use these caves as a permanent residence , but instead went inside to take advantage of the animals that were cornered there and to be able to hunt them easily.
In this way, the Neanderthals of the moment had to do not only with cave bears, which according to the remains found could reach about three meters, but also fought with hyenas and wolves, of which they have also been found bones.
Thanks to this study, carried out by Álvaro Arrizabalaga and Aritza Villaluenga, we can learn more about this transition between the last Neanderthals and the first modern humans.
