Neanderthal hand bones discovered in Abauntz Cave, Spain

An exceptional discovery in Navarre

According to Archaeology Magazine, which draws on a report from the website IFL Science, remains of a Neanderthal's hand were recovered from Abauntz Cave, located in Navarre. What has caught the attention of specialists is their state of preservation: the bones still contain collagen, a fibrous protein that normally breaks down very quickly after the individual's death.

The presence of this organic material is valuable on two counts. It allows reliable radiocarbon dating, set here at about 46,000 years, and it raises hopes for genetic analyses on individuals whose DNA rarely survives in European sediments. For ancient prehistory, every well-preserved bone is a rare and precious source of information.

A site on a natural route

The cave's geographical position explains the interest in the site. According to researchers Andión Arteaga, of the University of Warsaw and the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, and Mikel Arlegi, of the Museum of Man, the cave lies along a natural corridor linking the two slopes of the Pyrenees.

This passage may have served as a route for late Neanderthal groups, who would have moved according to resources and climate. Studying Abauntz therefore helps us understand how these populations traveled through the region and whether, and how, they came into contact with one another. The Pyrenean landscape, both barrier and corridor, makes this kind of question particularly compelling for prehistorians.

What the first analyses reveal

A preliminary genetic analysis, carried out on a sample of the bones, indicates that they come from a male Neanderthal. Marks observed on the remains also suggest that a small carnivore gnawed these bones after the individual's death. This type of evidence belongs to taphonomy, the study of the processes that alter remains between death and archaeological discovery.

These observations remain provisional, but they illustrate the complementarity between anthropology, zooarchaeology and genetics. Each of these disciplines contributes a piece of the puzzle: the identity of the individual, the conditions in which the body was left, and how it was transformed after death.

The diversity of Neanderthals in question

The scientific stakes go beyond this single individual. Researchers point out that several Neanderthal lineages may have coexisted in Europe during this late phase of their history. Understanding this diversity is a central debate in grasping how and why these populations eventually disappeared, just as Homo sapiens was spreading across the continent.

The genome of these remains should shed light on the kinship between groups living on either side of the Pyrenees. Whether the analyses confirm close ties or, on the contrary, clear separations, they will refine our picture of the last Neanderthal populations and of their exchanges across western Europe.

To go further

Readers who want to explore the subject further can consult the Archaeology Magazine article on Neanderthal hearing, which places these populations within their acoustic and biological environment. This feature shows how recent research is reshaping the image of these extinct humans.

The Neanderthal sites of the Pyrenees and northern Spain also offer many opportunities to discover this part of prehistory, both in the field and in regional museums. A visit to these places gives a concrete sense of the living conditions of these hunter-gatherers of the Middle Paleolithic.