Neandertal Jewelry Shows Their Symbolic Smarts

[trehinp]

Interesting paper summary from Science.

Neandertal Jewelry Shows Their Symbolic Smarts

Science, 15 January 2010 (Volume 327, Issue 5963)

A handful of marine mollusk shells, possibly used as necklaces and paint cups, shows that Neandertals expressed themselves symbolically, say the authors of a paper published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/327/5963/255

 I haven't read the paper as I don't subscribe to Science.

Anyone to comment on it?

Paul

[aggsbach]

Two sites of the Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic of Iberia,
dated to as early as approximately 50,000 years ago, yielded
perforated and pigment-stained marine shells. The article is convincing and for me not very surprising .
Just another example that we should assume at least some symbolic capacities for the Neanderthals


Johannes