WASHINGTON: The artefacts, described in the latest issue of the journal PLOS ONE, add to the growing body of evidence that Neanderthals had their own rich culture and meaningful symbols long before Homo sapiens came to Europe.”It’s really a stunning discovery,” says lead author David Frayer of the University of Kansas.
“It’s one of those things that just appeared out of the blue. It’s so unexpected and it’s so startling because there’s just nothing like it until very recent times to find this kind of jewellery.”
Some traditional cultures today still wear this type of jewellery, except it’s usually made out of different materials, such as shells.
In this case, the jewellery components were claws of white-tailed eagles. The claws bear multiple edge-smoothed cut marks, Frayer and his team determined, after studying the finds.
The claws, dated to 130,000 years ago, also appear to have been polished before they were likely strung and then worn on either the wrist or neck.
White-tailed eagles – also called ‘sea eagles’ – are still around today. They are large birds of prey that are closely related to bald eagles.
The find came from a site called Krapina in Croatia. Frayer and his team believe that the eagles and their claws must have held a symbolic meaning for Neanderthals at the time. The precise meaning remains a mystery, though.
Could Neanderthals then have trained these birds to catch fish and other animals for them? Or maybe they just admired the strength and beauty of these majestic birds.
In any case, the jewellery reveals that Neanderthals must have felt proud to display the claws on their bodies — a prehistoric form of impressive, symbolic bling.
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