Overview
- An international team reports the first secure evidence that Neanderthals in Central Europe hunted and processed turtles, publishing the results in Scientific Reports.
- Researchers analyzed 92 turtle shell pieces from Neumark‑Nord in Saxony‑Anhalt, Germany, which date to about 125,000 years ago.
- High‑resolution 3D scans revealed cut marks on the inside of many shells that match careful butchery, including limb removal, organ extraction, and thorough cleaning.
- Because Neumark‑Nord holds more than 100,000 large‑animal bones, including deer, bovids, horses, and forest elephants, the team argues turtle hunting there likely was not driven by food scarcity.
- The authors propose that shells were kept and reused as tools such as scoops, while noting other unproven possibilities like easy child-led hunts, taste preferences, or perceived medicinal value.