Who knew they were so fancy?
“You can immediately identify them on site as being crab claws, especially in Portugal, because we have a tradition of eating crabs a lot,” Mariana Nabais, one of the study’s authors, told the. “It was a big surprise, especially because when we were digging there, we still didn’t have that idea of Neanderthals actively eating shellfish.”
Within the cave site, called Gruta da Figueira Brava, the research team found 635 bits of crab shells, representing at least 33 individual crabs. Most of them were the same species of brown crab popular in Portugal today, where they’re served with roe and mustard. And based on the size of the claws, the researchers determined that the crabs from long, long ago were larger than average, with about seven ounces of meat per crustacean.
Of course, other animals have historically eaten crabs as well. But the shells found in Gruta da Figueira Brava didn’t carry tooth marks or the shattering patterns seen after birds drop them on rocks. In fact, some of the shells were charred and blackened, leading researchers to say that they had been roasted, just like you might see on any restaurant menu today.
The idea of Neanderthals serving up an elegant meal of roasted crab is a bit at odds with the general depiction of them as, well, idiots. But the new study may help change the way people think of Neanderthals, imbuing them with more intelligence than they’re given credit for. “We’ve always seen Neanderthals as like these brute cousins,” Nabais said. “Now, we know they were eating shellfish … which was something that people thought that they wouldn’t be capable of because they were a bit dumb.”
日本 最新ニュース, 日本 見出し
Similar News:他のニュース ソースから収集した、これに似たニュース記事を読むこともできます。
Neanderthals caught and cooked crabs 90,000 years ago'Our results add an extra nail to the coffin of the obsolete notion that Neanderthals were primitive cave dwellers.'
続きを読む »
Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another 'nail in the coffin' for primitive cave dweller stereotypesIn a cave just south of Lisbon, archaeological deposits conceal a Paleolithic dinner menu. As well as stone tools and charcoal, the site of Gruta de Figueira Brava contains rich deposits of shells and bones with much to tell us about the Neanderthals that lived there—especially about their meals. A study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology shows that 90,000 years ago, these Neanderthals were cooking and eating crabs.
続きを読む »
Neanderthals had a taste for a seafood delicacy that's still popular today | CNNNeanderthals living 90,000 years ago in a seafront cave, in what's now Portugal, regularly caught crabs, roasted them on coals and ate the cooked flesh, according to a new study.
続きを読む »
Neanderthals Hunted Giant Elephants Much Larger Than The Ones TodayA new analysis of 125,000-year-old bones from around 70 elephants has led to some intriguing new revelations about the Neanderthals of the time: that they could work together to deliberately bring down large prey, and that they gathered in larger groups...
続きを読む »
Neanderthals May Have Used Animal Skulls as DecorDid our neanderthal ancestors engage in a form of prehistoric home decorating? New evidence is giving researchers reason to ask the question.
続きを読む »