Neanderthals Processed Bones to Extract Grease, Study Reveals

Quick Summary

• Neanderthals processed animal bones for fat extraction 125,000 years ago at a site in Neumark-Nord, Germany.
• Over 100,000 bone fragments from species like horses, deer, foxes, and extinct rhinoceroses were found.
• The bones were smashed and heated to extract grease-a high-calorie food that was durable and transportable.
• Researchers called the location a “fat factory,” used intensively for a short period.
• Evidence suggests these processes involved intentional heating with fires but not boiling in pottery (as pottery emerged around 20,000 years ago).
• Alternative containers such as deer skin or birch bark might have been used to process food with heated water.
• This discovery predates confirmed instances of similar practices by modern humans by nearly 100,000 years.

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