40,000 years ago, other species arranged their homes like modern humans

In prehistoric caves that modern Homo sapiens inherited from another species, scientists made a shocking discovery .

By mapping the distribution of stone tools, animal bones, ocher and shells on the surface of the Riparo Bombrini site in Liguria (Italy), paleoanthropologists showed that ancient humans Neanderthals had the form behavior that seems to be typical only of modern people. That is the need to live in a house space with a clear structure and similarities.

Picture 1 of 40,000 years ago, other species arranged their homes like modern humans
The excavation of the Riparo Bombrini site in Italy revealed that Neanderthals also arranged their living space like modern people - (Photo: ARCHOEALOGY MAGAZINE).

This discovery seems unimaginable, because Neanderthals have been extinct for at least 40,000 years, meaning that the neatly arranged and divided caves in which they lived are also of equivalent or ancient age. than.

According to the archaeological team from the University of Montreal and the University of Genoa, the different caves of Neanderthals were uniform in their spatial distribution.

They divide their living area into separate high-intensity and low-intensity activity zones. In addition, the locations of essential structures such as fireplaces and garbage pits in caves are also similar.

More interestingly, this living space layout is inherited between the two species.

In this region, the late Mousterian technocomplex of Neanderthals was succeeded by the Protoaurigacian technocomplex of modern Homo sapiens. And, Homo sapiens also continued to use cave layouts similar to their predecessors.

This shows that the cognitive ability of spatial organization is not exclusively possessed by modern people as previously thought.

The discovery also follows a long line of evidence that Neanderthals did not live the lives of hominids but were more like us than we ever imagined.

Over the past few years, archaeological evidence has continuously shown that tens of thousands of years ago, they knew how to weave yarn, make jewelry. They also knew how to organize game slaughterhouses and make weapons. . individual.

Neanderthals - also known as Homo neanderthalensis - are believed to have appeared in the world about 400,000 - 800,000 years ago, being in the same genus Homo (genus Human) as modern humans Homo sapiens.

They have brains even larger than humans but are less flexible because they lack some connections, so they are said to be a little less developed than us.

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens communities met and interbred with each other in the past, so modern humans today still have about 2% of DNA originating from this ancient human species.