New findings at Tinshemet Cave suggest Neanderthals and early humans shared burial practices and lifestyles 100,000 years ago
In the limestone hills of central Israel, archaeologists have uncovered what may be one of humanity’s earliest burial grounds, where different human species not only coexisted but shared cultural practices and technological knowledge.
The discovery at Tinshemet Cave, published this week in Nature Human Behaviour, provides compelling evidence that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the Middle East didn’t merely tolerate each other’s presence – they actively exchanged ideas, technologies, and possibly even symbolic behaviors.
For decades, scientists have debated whether early humans and Neanderthals were competitors, occasional neighbors, or collaborators. The new findings suggest something more complex: a dynamic relationship where different human groups learned from each other and developed shared cultural practices.
“Our data show that human connections and population interactions have been fundamental in driving cultural and technological innovations throughout history,” explains Professor Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who has led excavations at the site since 2017.
The research team unearthed several human burials dated to around 100,000 years ago – making them among the oldest deliberate human burials ever found. These discoveries represent the first mid-Middle Paleolithic burials discovered in over fifty years.
A Meeting Point of Human Species
The Levant region, encompassing modern-day Israel, Lebanon, and parts of Syria and Jordan, served as a crucial crossroads for human dispersal out of Africa. During periods of favorable climate around 130,000-80,000 years ago, the area saw increased population density and movement.
“During the mid-MP, climatic improvements increased the region’s carrying capacity, leading to demographic expansion and intensified contact between different Homo taxa,” notes Dr. Marion Prévost of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the study’s lead researchers.
What makes the Tinshemet Cave findings particularly significant is their timing. This period featured remarkable human diversity in the region, with fossil evidence showing at least three different types of humans: Neanderthals, Homo sapiens, and what the researchers describe as “Neanderthal-like hominins” with archaic features.
Despite this biological diversity, the archaeological record shows remarkable uniformity in behavior and technology. All groups appear to have used similar stone tool production methods, hunting strategies, and even burial practices.
Shared Burial Customs
Among the most striking discoveries at Tinshemet Cave are the human remains, including two fully articulated skeletons. The burials show remarkable similarities to those found at other regional sites like Qafzeh and Skhul Caves.
In all three locations, the deceased were placed in a fetal position, lying on their sides with flexed legs and arms bent toward the chest. Bodies were typically interred with various objects, including chunks of ochre – a mineral pigment that likely held symbolic importance.
These burial practices predate formal burials elsewhere in the world by tens of thousands of years, suggesting the Levant was a hotspot for early symbolic behavior and social complexity.
Professor Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, who studied the human remains, notes that “the interconnectedness of lifestyles among various human groups in the Levant suggests deep relationships and shared adaptation strategies.”
Ochre: Evidence of Symbolic Thinking
The excavation yielded more than 7,500 ochre fragments in various colors, with red and orange hues predominating. Some pieces show evidence of heat treatment, suggesting deliberate modification to enhance color properties.
Particularly significant was the discovery of a large chunk of red ochre placed between the legs of one of the buried individuals, indicating its importance in burial rituals.
Chemical analysis of the ochre revealed it originated from sources as far as 60-100 kilometers away, suggesting considerable effort was invested in obtaining these materials.
The presence of ochre is considered significant evidence of symbolic thinking and possibly even aesthetic sensibilities among these early humans.
Shared Hunting Strategies
Analysis of animal remains at the site revealed another pattern consistent across Middle Paleolithic sites in the region: a focus on hunting large game.
The bones of aurochs (wild cattle), equids (horse relatives), deer, and gazelle were found in roughly equal proportions – a pattern that differs from both earlier and later periods in the region’s history.
This shared hunting strategy across different human groups further supports the idea of cultural exchange and shared adaptive responses to environmental conditions.
Stone Tool Technology
The stone tools discovered at Tinshemet Cave also tell a story of technological uniformity. All groups in the region during this period predominantly used what archaeologists call the “centripetal Levallois method” for creating stone tools.
This specific technique represents a departure from earlier methods and appears consistently across sites associated with different human species in the region.
The researchers argue this technological consistency across diverse human groups suggests knowledge sharing and cultural exchange rather than independent invention.
Israel: An Ancient “Melting Pot”
Professor Zaidner describes ancient Israel as a “melting pot” where different human groups met, interacted, and evolved together.
This interaction zone likely facilitated not just the exchange of technologies and hunting strategies, but potentially led to genetic admixture as well. Recent genetic studies have already established that interbreeding occurred between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
The findings suggest that human connections, rather than isolation or competition, were key drivers of technological and cultural advances. This perspective challenges older narratives that emphasized competition and replacement between human species.
A Window into Social Complexity
The clustering of multiple burials at Tinshemet Cave raises intriguing questions about its function in Middle Paleolithic society. The researchers speculate that the site may have served as a dedicated burial ground or perhaps even an early cemetery.
If correct, this would suggest these early humans maintained complex social bonds and shared rituals around death – behaviors previously thought to have emerged much later in human history.
The placement of significant artifacts within burial contexts might even hint at beliefs about an afterlife, though such interpretations remain speculative.
As excavations at Tinshemet Cave continue, researchers expect to uncover more clues about the nature of interactions between different human species in this crucial period of our evolutionary history.
The findings not only reframe our understanding of human relationships in prehistory but highlight the Levant’s critical role as a laboratory of human cultural and biological evolution – a place where different paths of human development converged, exchanged innovations, and ultimately helped shape the course of human history.