Seasonal shellfish exploitation by Neanderthals 115,000 years ago
The southern coast of Europe has been at the center of archaeological debates contrasting the social and cognitive capabilities of Neanderthals and modern humans. Early evidence of marine resource exploitation by Neanderthals in this region challenged some views that coastal adaptation was a trait distinctive of modern human cognition and behavior. While it is now evident that Neanderthals exploited marine resources, the nature of their seasonal foraging strategies remains an open question. Here, we analyzed the oxygen isotope composition of mollusk shells collected by Neanderthals at Los Aviones Cave (Iberian Peninsula), demonstrating that they primarily exploited intertidal mollusks during the colder months of the year. This harvesting pattern anticipates the dominant seasonal exploitation strategies observed among later modern human populations in southern Europe, highlighting a degree of behavioral flexibility in Neanderthal use of coastal ecosystems.
Authors
- Adolfo Moreno Márquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7061-2131)
- Leon J. Clarke
- Joào Zilhão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5937-3061)
- Arnaldo Marín
- Asier García-Escárzaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3625-0824)
- Stefania Milano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7173-5819)
- Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7041-532X)
- Gernot Nehrke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2851-3049)
- Josefina Zapata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5725-8473)
- André C. Colonese
- Ronald Castellón-Vargas
- Patrick Roberts
Institutions
- Manchester Metropolitan University (GB)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE)
- Universidad de Cantabria (ES)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Tea Research Institute (CN)
- Instituto de Física de Cantabria (ES)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (DE)
- Universidad de Burgos (ES)
- University of Almería (ES)
- Universidad de Murcia (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2026-05-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2531880123
- Primary Topic
- Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- Royal Society
- European Commission
- Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca