New research shows that Neanderthals who lived in what is now northern Israel had unique butchery preferences and practices. Anaëlle Jallon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who piloted the study. It centered on the two caves, Amud and Kebara, which are roughly 70 kilometers apart. Both sites were likely used by Neanderthals in the coldest winter months.
The study examined 77 total bone samples, 43 from Amud cave and 34 from Kebara cave. Both groups had access to the same prey-rich diet—specifically mountain gazelles and fallow deer. When it came to their butchering practices, there was a notable divergence.
At Amud cave, researchers found an unexpected number of charred and broken bone fragments. This discovery indicates that these early inhabitants had a distinct way of preparing and processing meat. Kebara cave showed more bones from the largest animals, such as aurochs. This indicates that for Neanderthals at this site, we should expect to see the use of different tools or the application of different techniques.
Jallon highlighted the implications of these findings, stating, “It means that within all the Neanderthal population, you have several distinct groups that have distinct ways of doing things, even for activities that are so related to survival.”
In fact, analysis of cut marks on the bones showed even more differences. For example, Jallon pointed out that “even when we compare only the gazelles, and only the long bones of gazelles, we find a higher density of cut marks in [bones from] Amud, with more cut marks that are crossing each other, [and] less cut marks that are straight lines, but more [curved].” The Neanderthals at Amud might have butchered animals at other sites. Second, they could have employed different techniques than what was used at Kebara.
Dr. Matt Pope from University College London, an IAHR research partner, underscored the significance of the research. Although he didn’t participate in that study himself, he understood its significance. He stated, “These aren’t just cut marks being studied; these are the gestures and movements of the Neanderthal people themselves, as evocative to us as footprints or hand marks on a cave wall.”
Researchers first excavated the bone samples from either cave in the 1990s. Until this new study, those samples had mostly languished unexplored. This work has important implications to better understand the cultural and practical diversity between Neanderthals living so close to each other.
Future research will investigate if these differences are based on food likes and dislikes. It will examine differences in meat preparation learning styles, for example, by age and ethnicity. Jallon noted, “It’s either food preferences that lead to different ways of preparing meat and then cutting it or just differences in the way they learn how to cut meat.”