Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals

Abstract

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. At Cueva de los Aviones, three umbo-perforated valves of Acanthocardia and Glycymeris were found alongside lumps of yellow and red colorants, and residues preserved inside a Spondylus shell consist of a red lepidocrocite base mixed with ground, dark red-to-black fragments of hematite and pyrite. A perforated Pecten shell, painted on its external, white side with an orange mix of goethite and hematite, was abandoned after breakage at Cueva Antón, 60 km inland. Comparable early modern human-associated material from Africa and the Near East is widely accepted as evidence for body ornamentation, implying behavioral modernity. The Iberian finds show that European Neandertals were no different from coeval Africans in this regard, countering genetic/cognitive explanations for the emergence of symbolism and strengthening demographic/social ones.

Fig. 1.

The perforated shells from level II of Cueva de los Aviones (after cleaning): (1) Acanthocardia tuberculata; (2–3). Glycymeris insubrica (maximum internal diameter of the perforations: 4.2, 9.5, and 6.8 mm, respectively). See also SI Appendix, Sections I and IV, Figs. S6, S7, S15, and S16.

Fig. 2.

(Left) Excavation-broken upper valve of Spondylus gaederopus from Cueva de los Aviones (the pigment residue is indicated); (Right) close-up view of the pigment residue. See also SI Appendix, Section IV, Figs. S17–S19.

Fig. 3.

Different views of an ancillary metatarsal of horse with an excavation break from Cueva de los Aviones (Left) and binocular microscope close-ups of its pigment-dotted tip (Center and Right). See also SI Appendix, Section IV, Fig. S20.

Fig. 4.

K19-3, a perforated upper half-valve of Pecten maximus from level I-k at Cueva Antón (height: 120 mm). (Upper) The internal, naturally red side (Left) and the external, whitish side that was painted with an orange colorant made of goethite and hematite (Right). (Lower) binocular microscope close-ups on pigment masses and pigment stains around the perforation. See also SI Appendix, Section VI, Figs. S25 and S26.