Proof in the Caves

Much of the hard evidence for Neanderthal culture is buried in stone. In Spanish caves, some uranium-series dates place red markings and hand stencils at roughly 65,000 years ago — before modern humans are thought to have reached Europe, which would point to Neanderthal artists. Other researchers dispute those dates, arguing that water can leach uranium and make the rock seem older than it is, so the claim is still debated rather than settled.

The case for symbolic thinking does not rest on the paintings alone. At Krapina in Croatia, Neanderthals strung eagle talons into what looks like jewelry. They scratched deliberate patterns into bone and carried lumps of red ochre for color. The anatomy hints at language too: a Neanderthal hyoid bone found at Kebara in Israel is almost identical to ours, and its internal structure is consistent with a capacity for speech. Decoration, deliberate marks, the equipment for talking: this is a thinking mind.