Humanos y neandertales no solo coexistieron e intercambiaron, sino que colaboraron activamente y compartieron sus culturas. Este asombroso hallazgo, basado en excavaciones de la cueva de Tinshemet, sugiere que estaban compartiendo estrategias de caza, consejos para hacer herramientas y lamentando a sus muertos de la misma manera.
De hecho, los humanos y neandertales de esta cueva vivían como un único complejo cultural.
Investigaciones modernas han desmantelado gradualmente el mito del bruto neandertal. Fabricaban herramientas sofisticadas, se adaptaban a entornos hostiles y probablemente participaban en comportamientos simbólicos. También sabemos que los neandertales y los Homo sapiens interactuaban, incluyendo a través del mestizaje.
Pero la cueva de Tinshemet es un sitio desconcertante.
Sabemos que los Homo sapiens y homínidos similares a neandertales eran contemporáneos en el área porque sus restos fósiles se solapan cronológicamente. Técnicas avanzadas de datación colocan consistentemente a estas diversas poblaciones dentro de la misma ventana de aproximadamente 130,000 a 80,000 años atrás. Esta línea de tiempo se refuerza aún más con la bio-cronología, específicamente la presencia compartida de especies de roedores tropicales como Mastomys y Arvicanthis. Estos actúan como «fósiles índice» biológicos que identifican este período ambiental específico en toda la región.
La tecnología que utilizaban estas poblaciones es el puzzle. Los arqueólogos consideran que las herramientas de piedra son como un sello cultural. Si encontrabas un cierto tipo de cuchilla de sílex, asumías que un cierto grupo de personas la había hecho. Pero en la cueva de Tinshemet, aunque tanto los Homo sapiens como grupos de neandertales estaban allí, la tecnología es la misma.
Todos parecen haber estado usando algo llamado el método Levallois centrípeto, una técnica compleja de múltiples pasos para dar forma a un núcleo de sílex de modo que produzca un fragmento planificado. Requiere previsión, habilidad manual y probablemente enseñanza. Este no es el tipo de método en el que la gente tropieza independientemente cada dos semanas, es el tipo de técnica que una generación transmite a la siguiente.
Pero este estilo específico de fabricación de herramientas también se ha encontrado en varios otros sitios (como Qafzeh, Skhul y Nesher Ramla), mostrando que las poblaciones en estos sitios estaban altamente interconectadas, independientemente de su especie.
This method also tells us what they would have hunted for: big game. Specifically, aurochs (massive, extinct wild oxen) and equids (wild horses). While earlier humans in the region were more opportunistic, the Tinshemet crowd was focused. They were taking down the biggest, most dangerous animals in the landscape. This kind of hunting requires intense social cooperation and planning. You don’t bring down an aurochs alone. You do it with a team. Based on the fossil evidence, this team likely included both humans and Neanderthals.
Culture also shows how linked these populations were. The cave yielded five individuals, including two fully articulated skeletons. One was an adult (Tinshemet 2) and another was a child (Tinshemet 1).
Both were placed in the same fetal position, lying on their right side, with their arms tucked toward their faces. This was clearly a ritual position.
The site also produced more than 7,500 ochre fragments. Ochre is a natural pigment made from clay, sand, and iron oxide, and it can range from yellow to deep red. Since the material appears to have come from roughly 100 kilometers away, it must have been brought to the cave intentionally. Some pieces were even heat-treated, probably to intensify their color. In one burial, a large red ochre lump was found between the legs of the deceased.
We see the exact same thing at Qafzeh and Skhul caves. The similarity of this ritual suggests a shared symbolic language, or maybe even the same religion. When you see two different biological groups burying their children with the same pigments and in the same poses, they probably belong to the same culture.
The more we look at our evolutionary history, the more it’s starting to seem that Homo sapiens didn’t suddenly become smart and replace everyone else. Instead, it seems like other species like Neanderthals were doing just as well. If anything, Tinshemet suggests a melting pot for culture and technology.
If there is a spark that made us special, Tinshemet suggests that the spark was connectivity. Our ancestors’ ability to look past physical differences and adopt a common culture is what allowed them to thrive in a harsh, unpredictable world. We moved from being a lonely species on a solo mission to a diverse family that learned to speak the same language of survival and symbolism. We even have the Neanderthal DNA inside us to prove it.
Excavations at Tinshemet Cave began in 2017 and are led by Prof. Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Marion Prévost of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. One of the central questions guiding the research is how Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interacted during the mid-Middle Palaeolithic in this region. Researchers are exploring whether these groups competed, coexisted peacefully, or worked together in meaningful ways.
El estudio fue publicado en Nature Human Behavior.
