9 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Neanderthals of the North

Were Neanderthals really as well adapted to life in the cold as previously assumed, or did they prefer more temperate environmental conditions during the last Ice Age?

To answer these questions, it is worthwhile to examine Neanderthal sites on the northern periphery of their range. After all, it was there that environmental fluctuations were most noticeable, especially as a result of repeated ice advances from Scandinavia. A region particularly suitable for such investigations is northern Germany, with its numerous documented Neanderthal sites.

In a recent study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, and other partner institutions have now investigated the remains of Neanderthals at a former lakeshore in Lichtenberg in the Wendland region (Lower Saxony). Using an integrative research approach, the team has combined analytical methods from archaeology, luminescence dating, sedimentology, and micromorphology with the study of pollen and phytoliths to explore in detail the relationship between human presence in the north and changing environmental conditions.

A window into environmental history

”Archaeological excavations are a window into environmental history”, says Michael Hein, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “Based on sediments and pollen grains they contain, we can reconstruct the vegetation and environmental conditions of the time. For this, the most accurate dating possible is required, which – in the case of Central Europe – is still lacking for many climatic phases of the last Ice Age.” Collecting environmental information and performing independent dating is of great interest to archaeology and paleoenvironmental research alike.

Drill core from Lichtenberg with alternating layers representing warm and cold climatic conditions. Photo: M. Weiss / M. Hein

“In Lichtenberg, we have now succeeded in dating quite accurately the end of a pronounced warm phase – the so-called Brörup Interstadial – to 90,000 years”, Hein adds. “Thus, the cooling of the continent would have coincided with the climate change in the Greenland ice and the North Atlantic. A direct coupling had so far only been suspected – but not proven – for northern Germany.”

Settlement of northern areas also during cold phases

The study also found that Neanderthals occupied a lightly wooded lakeshore about 90,000 years ago in a relatively temperate climate. Stone tools found at the former campsite attest to a variety of activities, such as woodworking and plant processing. Already between 1987 and 1994, the Landesmuseum Hannover excavated a site close to Lichtenberg containing bifacial backed knives, so-called “Keilmesser” – specialized cutting tools.

In the excavations, the layers of this former campsite are located above the lakeshore campsite, which is associated with a temperate climate period, and date to a time about 70,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age’s first cold maximum began. The researchers were thus able to prove that Neanderthals had indeed inhabited the northern regions even during cold phases.

Multifunctional tools from the Lichtenberg site from 90.000 years ago.
Multifunctional tools from the Lichtenberg site from 90.000 years ago. Photo: MPI f. evolutionäre Anthropologie / M. Weiss

Flexible adaptation to environmental conditions

”Changes in stone tools indicate that Neanderthals adapted in line with changing environmental conditions”, says Marcel Weiß, an archaeologist at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg. “In Lichtenberg, we were able to show that they repeatedly visited northern Central Europe – which developed from a heavily forested environment during the last warm period, to sparser forests of a cold-moderate climate period at the beginning of the last Ice Age, to the cold tundra of the first cold maximum.”

In this context, the stone tools, especially knives made of flint, show that the Neanderthals’ lakeshore site may have served a hunting party for a short stay. Evidence from other sites from the same time period indicates that during cold phases Neanderthals likely visited their northern dwelling grounds mainly during the summer months.

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107519

Cover Photo: Lakeshore (black organic layer) from 90,000 years ago superimposed by cold climatic sediments. © M. Weiss / M. Hein

Related Articles

New study reveals Dog ancestry can be traced back to two separate wolf populations

30 June 2022

30 June 2022

An international group of geneticists and archaeologists with participation of the University of Potsdam have found that the ancestry of...

Drought accelerated Hittite Empire’s collapse

9 February 2023

9 February 2023

Researchers have offered new insight into the abrupt collapse of the  Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, with an...

9 Synagogues in Izmir to Reopen as Museum

26 March 2022

26 March 2022

As part of a Jewish heritage project in Izmir, Turkey, nine historic synagogues will be reopened as museums. Built by...

Ancient Tomb of Nomadic Horse Lord Yields Untouched Treasures and Weapons

2 May 2025

2 May 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery near Grozny has unearthed an undisturbed Alanian tomb dating back over two millennia, revealing a wealth...

A Scientific Surprise: Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age

1 January 2023

1 January 2023

A new study shows that the Bering Land Bridge, the strip of land that once connected Asia to Alaska, emerged...

The 4,500-year-old Wisconsin canoe was built around the same time that Stonehenge was being constructed

31 May 2024

31 May 2024

Historians from Wisconsin have reported the amazing finding of at least eleven prehistoric canoes in Lake Mendota, which is close...

1300-year-old baby footprints found in excavations at the ancient city of Assos in western Turkey

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

1300 years ago, a baby stepped on baked bricks prepared to make a bread baking oven. The baby was probably...

Archaeologists Unearth Cisterns at Izmir’s Ancient “City of Mother Goddess”

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

In the ancient city of Metropolis, in western Turkey, in the province of Izmir, something that played an important role...

Archaeologists uncover Europe’s oldest lakeside stilt village behind a fortress of defensive spikes

11 August 2023

11 August 2023

Under the turquoise waters of Lake Ohrid, the “Pearl of the Balkans” Scientists have uncovered what may be one of...

‘Nano lime’ protects Nemrut: Throne of the Gods

24 October 2023

24 October 2023

Last year, “nano lime” was filled with syringes to protect the tiny cracks on the large stone statues on Mount...

First direct evidence of drug use as part of Bronze Age ritual ceremonies in Europe

6 April 2023

6 April 2023

An analysis of human hair strands recovered from a burial site in Menorca, Spain, reveals that ancient human civilizations used...

Fingerprints Found on Orkney Pottery Belong to Young Men

14 June 2021

14 June 2021

Details of the two young guys whose fingerprints were discovered on a fragment of a clay pot dating back over...

The Stolen Frescoes were Returned to the Pompeii Archaeological Park

20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Six frescoes ripped from the remains of ancient Roman villas years ago have been returned to the Pompeii archaeological site,...

A Monument complex and inscription belonging to Ilteris Kutlug Kagan, the founder of the Eastern Göktürk Khanate, were found

24 August 2022

24 August 2022

A Turkish inscription of İlteriş Kutlug Kağan was found during the joint scientific archaeological expedition of the International Turkic Academy...

Spanish Stonehenge re-emerges from the ‘Valdecañas reservoir’

19 August 2022

19 August 2022

Submerged by the Valdecañas reservoir for decades, the Guadalperal dolmen has been fully exposed as it was two summers ago....