Latest news with #LutzKindler
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Were Digging Into a Hill—and Stumbled Upon a 125,000-Year-Old Factory
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: A new study shows evidence of Neanderthal 'fat factories' dating back as far as 125,000 years ago. The study found inhabitants of the settlement strategically selected the lakeside location for the factory and harvested bone marrow by breaking open the bones as well as through a process of crushing and heating. The fat factory suggests Neanderthals' grasp of their survivalist diets, and that they were able to understand their environment and plan ahead for hunting and resource-gathering. Though the assembly line is largely credited to Henry Ford in 1913, humans understood the mass production practice long beforehand. A new study published in the journal Science Advances shows that the Neanderthals—our distant cousins—operated 'fat factories' to extract bone marrow for their diets as far back as 125,000 years ago. The recent research from Leiden University adds to decades of previous research at the Neumark-Nord archaeological site near Leipzig, Germany. Around 125,000 years ago, Earth experienced an interglacial period with weather much like our climate today. Previous research at Neumark-Nord showed that Neanderthals hunted and butchered straight-tusked elephants in the region. According to a press release from Leiden University, there is also evidence of plant use in the area, though it's rarely preserved. Additionally, previous studies found proof that inhabitants used fire to manage vegetation. Needless to say, Neanderthals have long been underestimated, and the new study does nothing to dissuade that notion. Archeologists on the recent excavation found that Neanderthals intentionally selected the lakeside location to process the bones of at least 172 mammals including deer, horses, and aurochs (a now-extinct species of bovine). According to the study, inhabitants at the site not only broke open large mammal bones to extract the marrow, but they also ground the bones into thousands of fragments and heated them in water to extract calorie-rich bone grease. These findings place estimates of advanced resource collection thousands of years earlier than previously thought. 'This was intensive, organised, and strategic,' the study's first author Lutz Kindler said in the press release. 'Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision—planning hunts, transporting carcasses, and rendering fat in a task-specific area. They understood both the nutritional value of fat and how to access it efficiently—most likely involving caching carcass parts at places in the landscape for later transport to and use at the grease rendering site.' Experts believe Neanderthals understood that there was a certain 'fat quota' they had to meet in order to make the (literally) bone-crushing process worthwhile. The authors of the paper emphasized the transparent amount of herbivores that Neanderthals at Neumark-Nord must have been hunting, explaining that our 'cousins' were likely able to plan ahead and use their environment effectively. This extensive research was possible because it wasn't just one site that was preserved—it was an entire landscape, according to the authors of the study. 'The enormous extent and exceptional preservation of the Neumark-Nord site complex offers us a unique opportunity to investigate how Neanderthals influenced their environment—both flora and fauna,' Fulco Scherjon, researcher on the project, said in the release. 'This is extremely rare for such an ancient site—and opens exciting perspectives for future research.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Neanderthals had ‘factories' up and running 125,000 years ago
Neanderthals living 125,000 years ago may have mass-produced grease from animal bones in 'factories', a study has found. They may have been rendering fat from crushed animal bones in the Neumark-Nord region in central Germany, according to archaeological research, published in Science Advances. While many bones that contained less marrow were spread out across the archaeological site, researchers observed that many of the marrow-rich bones were located in clusters – sites they call 'fat factories'. The process required careful planning, specialised tools and detailed knowledge of nutrition. Its use challenges long-held assumptions about Neanderthal capabilities, the study, commissioned at Leiden University in The Netherlands, found. Prof Wil Roebroeks, the study's co-author said: 'This attitude that Neanderthals were dumb – this is another data point that proves otherwise.' Dr Lutz Kindler, the study's first author, added: 'Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision – planning hunts, transporting carcasses and rendering fat in a task-specific area.' Prior to this finding, the earliest evidence of this kind of fat rendering dated back to only 28,000 years ago, thousands of years after Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record. The Neumark-Nord 2/2B site was excavated through year-round campaigns from 2004 to 2009. Researchers found more than 118,000 bone fragments alongside 16,500 flint tools, hammerstones and abundant signs of fire use. Two thirds of the bone material measured smaller than 3cm – the tiny fragments used for grease extraction. Like humans, fat was a crucial survival resource for Neanderthals particularly for hunter-gatherers dependent on animal foods, and bone grease provided a calorie-dense solution during periods when other fat sources became scarce. Analysis also found that they had built fires, with evidence of heating bones, stones and charcoal from controlled fires. The Neanderthals had positioned themselves on the edge of a lake, which would have given them direct access to water, the study found. Researchers have also proposed that Neanderthals may have operated sophisticated caching systems. Caching was essential for northern latitude hunter-gatherers, who could not survive without stored foods. The concentration of 172 large mammals in such a small area suggests bones were stored across the landscape and later transported to the processing site during intensive rendering periods. Prof Sabine Gaudzinksi-Windheuser, the co-author of the study, said: 'Indeed, bone grease production requires a certain volume of bones to make this labour-intensive processing worthwhile and hence the more bones assembled, the more profitable it becomes.' The study found that the Neumark-Nord lakes could have facilitated 'pond storage' – a method where carcasses were submerged in cold water for preservation. Prof Roebroeks said: 'What makes Neumark-Nord so exceptional is the preservation of an entire landscape, not just a single site. 'We see Neanderthals hunting and minimally butchering deer in one area, processing elephants intensively in another, and – as this study shows – rendering fat from hundreds of mammal skeletons in a centralised location.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Neanderthals had ‘factories' up and running 125,000 years ago
Neanderthals living 125,000 years ago may have mass-produced grease from animal bones in 'factories', a study has found. They may have been rendering fat from crushed animal bones in the Neumark-Nord region in central Germany, according to archaeological research, published in Science Advances. While many bones that contained less marrow were spread out across the archaeological site, researchers observed that many of the marrow-rich bones were located in clusters – sites they call 'fat factories'. The process required careful planning, specialised tools and detailed knowledge of nutrition. Its use challenges long-held assumptions about Neanderthal capabilities, the study, commissioned at Leiden University in The Netherlands, found. Prof Wil Roebroeks, the study's co-author said: 'This attitude that Neanderthals were dumb – this is another data point that proves otherwise.' Dr Lutz Kindler, the study's first author, added: 'Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision – planning hunts, transporting carcasses and rendering fat in a task-specific area.' Prior to this finding, the earliest evidence of this kind of fat rendering dated back to only 28,000 years ago, thousands of years after Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient Neanderthal 'Fat Factory' Reveals How Advanced They Really Were
The Neanderthals are our closest extinct relatives, and they continue to fascinate as we peer back through tens of thousands of years of history. In a new discovery about this mysterious yet often familiar species, researchers have found ancient evidence of a Neanderthal "fat factory" in what is now Germany. Operational around 125,000 years ago, the factory would've been a place where Neanderthals broke and crushed the bones of large mammals to extract valuable bone marrow and grease, used as a valuable extra food source. Related: According to scientists, this is the earliest evidence yet for this type of sophisticated, large-scale bone processing, including both bone marrow and grease: the first confirmation Neanderthals were also doing this some 100,000 years before our species made it to Europe. "This was intensive, organised, and strategic," says archaeologist Lutz Kindler from the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center in Germany. "Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision – planning hunts, transporting carcasses, and rendering fat in a task-specific area. They understood both the nutritional value of fat and how to access it efficiently – most likely involving caching carcass parts at places in the landscape for later transport to and use at the grease rendering site." The researchers found their evidence on a site called Neumark-Nord in eastern Germany, not far from the city of Halle. They uncovered more than 100,000 bone fragments from what are thought to be at least 172 large mammals, including horses and deer. A good proportion of the bones showed cut marks and signs of intentional breakage, pointing to deliberate butchering – these weren't just leftovers from a hunt. There were also indications of tool use and fires in the same location, all in a relatively small area. Add all of that together, and it seems clear that some kind of systematic, organized bone processing was going on here. Similar processes have been linked to Neanderthal sites before, but not at this level of scale or sophistication. "Bone grease production requires a certain volume of bones to make this labour-intensive processing worthwhile and hence the more bones assembled, the more profitable it becomes," says archaeologist Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser from MONREPOS. We can add this to the long list of studies that have revealed Neanderthals were much smarter than they're often made out to be. Thanks to recent research we know they were adept swimmers, capable brewers, and abstract thinkers – who raised their kids and used speech patterns in a similar way to humans. Ultimately though, Homo sapiens thrived and survived, while Neanderthals died out. That's another story that archaeologists are busy investigating the whys and wherefores of, but all we have of the Neanderthals now are the remains and the sites they left behind – which will no doubt give up more revelations in the future. "The sheer size and extraordinary preservation of the Neumark-Nord site complex gives us a unique chance to study how Neanderthals impacted their environment, both animal and plant life," says computer scientist Fulco Scherjon from MONREPOS. "That's incredibly rare for a site this old – and it opens exciting new possibilities for future research." The research has been published in Science Advances. US Teen Drivers Admit to Looking at Their Phones For 21% of Every Trip Oldest Egyptian DNA Reveals Secrets of Elite Potter From Pyramid Era Zapping Volunteers' Brains With Electricity Boosted Their Maths Skills
Fox News
05-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Neanderthals extracted animal fat in advanced food prep process 125,000 years ago: report
Neanderthals living 125,000 years ago in what is now modern-day Germany may have extracted and eaten fat from animal bones through an organized food preparation process that scientists describe as a 'fat factory.' While excavating the site of a former lake landscape called Neumark-Nord, archaeologists discovered thousands of bones from at least 172 large mammals, along with flint artifacts. The bones, which date back to an interglacial period in which Neanderthals lived, were from animals like red deer and horses, according to a study published on July 2 in Science Advances. While many of the bones that contained less bone marrow were spread out across the archaeological site, researchers observed that many of the marrow-rich bones were located in clusters — sites they call 'fat factories.' Researchers believe our extinct ancestors used tools to smash the bones into small fragments and then boiled them for hours. The grease, which then floated to the surface of the water, could be skimmed off the top and eaten — providing a calorie-dense food source for the archaic people. Prior to this, evidence of the practice had only dated back to 28,000 years ago, according to the research. "Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision — planning hunts, transporting carcasses, and rendering fat in a task-specific area," Dr. Lutz Kindler, the study's first author, said. "They understood both the nutritional value of fat and how to access it efficiently — most likely involving caching carcass parts at places in the landscape for later transport to and use at the grease rendering site. Fat was a "life-sustaining" resource for Neanderthals, especially during the winter and spring seasons when carbohydrates were scarce. Their diets consisted largely of animal protein, and consuming lots of protein without other nutrients could lead to a sometimes deadly condition called protein poisoning, the research noted. "The sheer size and extraordinary preservation of the Neumark-Nord site complex gives us a unique chance to study how Neanderthals impacted their environment, both animal and plant life," Dr. Fulco Scherjon, data manager and computer scientist on the project, said. "That's incredibly rare for a site this old—and it opens exciting new possibilities for future research." In recent years, scientists have also discovered that Neanderthals went diving for seashells that they could chip with stone hammers into thin and sharp cutting edges. Similarly, another study suggested Neanderthals may have buried their dead with flowers. Researchers Lutz Kindler and Wil Roebroeks did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
