Sapiens and Neanderthals coexisted in prehistoric Israel, rare cave burials show

Some 100,000 years ago, a group of hominins shared hunting strategies, tool manufacturing tips and how to honor the dead, performing complex and highly symbolic rituals, according to a recent analysis of rare findings from Israel’s Tinshemet Cave.

Located in central Israel, near Shoham, the Tinshemet Cave was active for millennia during the period known as Middle Paleolithic, 130,000 to 80,000 years ago. The findings include the first complete prehistoric human skeletons uncovered in Israel since the 1960s, which researchers say are among the best preserved in the world.

“This is one of the most interesting sites for Paleolithic research and human evolution in Israel,” Prof. Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Times of Israel in a phone interview in conjunction with the publication of an academic paper on Tuesday. “It sheds light on an incredibly rich culture of symbolic and ritual behaviors, especially in connection with burials.”

While researchers have yet to determine what type of hominins are buried in the caves, the site has already provided unique insights into their social life in prehistoric Israel.

“If we consider this cave in conjunction with other Middle Paleolithic sites in our region, we get to an unprecedented understanding of how different hominins interacted,” Zaidner said.

The cave presented a wealth of ochre, fauna, and stone tools, which offer important hints at how its inhabitants lived and died.

The archaeologists found over 7,500 ochre fragments of different colors and textures.

“We know that some of the fragments were transported from distant sources, which meant that whoever buried their dead at the cave intentionally covered dozens of kilometers to bring ochre there,” Zaidner said.

According to the researcher, while no skin or organic material has survived, it is plausible that the pigments were used for body decoration as part of funerary practices.

“It is clear that the hominins were selecting the fragments and using ochre with a symbolic meaning,” Zaidner said.

Researchers have determined that the burials at Tinshemet and those found at the Qafzeh and Skhul caves in northern Israel are not only among the most ancient in the world but also all present similar characteristics. These include the use of ochre, the way the bodies were arranged — in fetal position, lying on their sides with highly flexed legs, arms bent towards the chest and face, and the head facing down — and the objects placed in the tombs, such as animal bones, antlers and pebbles of basalt collected from afar.

At least three hominin groups lived in the region at the time as determined by human remains and artifacts found at these sites, as well as at Nesher Ramla, another Middle Paleolithic site that presents similar stone tools and fauna bones. They were groups of archaic Neanderthal-like Homo, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.

“These groups interacted and developed a homogeneous culture, including in their hunting techniques and tool technology,” said Zaidner. “However, from a biological perspective, developing homogenous characteristics takes much more time. Therefore, they maintained significant morphological variabilities.”

More love, less war

“The questions surrounding the interactions between Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans have been the subject of a very long debate,” said Prof. Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, excavations director at Tinshemet with Zaidner.

“For many years, the leading interpretation has suggested that until 250,000 years ago the world, or at least Africa and Eurasia, were divided between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals,” Hershkovitz noted.

According to this narrative, Israel marked a border zone. As the Sapiens moved northward and invaded Neanderthal space, the groups started fighting. Eventually, the Neanderthals were defeated and eliminated.

“However, the story we are telling is that the relationship between the groups encompassed so much more than constant war,” Hershkovitz said. “We know that by now there is a lot of genetic evidence showing Sapiens and Neanderthals interbred, but we are going further and suggesting they constantly shared knowledge.”

Tinshemet Cave was discovered in the 1940s, but it was not until 2017 that the archaeologists led by Zaidner, Hershkovitz and Dr. Marion Prévost of the Hebrew University began excavating it. However, work proceeded very slowly.

“The sediments have cemented, so we are digging the equivalent of concrete,” Zaidner noted. “Every season, we are only able to remove about five centimeters of sediment, as opposed to 40 or 50 centimeters, which is the standard for a regular prehistoric site.”

So far, the researchers have extracted two complete skeletons, one of which might be among the most well-preserved from the period ever discovered.

The skeleton was removed as a one-ton block of rock and brought to Hershkovitz’s lab, where researchers are painstakingly working to expose it completely.

The skeleton was removed as a one-ton block of rock and brought to Hershkovitz’s lab

“We use the same type of instruments that a dentist would to clean teeth,” said Hershkovitz. “We have to be very careful not to damage the skeleton.”

For now, the researchers have not determined the type of hominins the remains belonged to.

“One thing I can say for sure, the skeleton is not a Neanderthal,” said Hershkovitz.

So far, the archaeologists have identified five burials at Tinshemet. Still, they expect to find several more, as only a minor part of the site has already been exposed.

Love is blind?

According to Hershkovitz, it is possible that hominins from distinct groups did not care, or even notice, that they looked different from each other.

“At the end of the day, I think that those Middle Paleolithic hominins were not concerned about how different they looked,” he said. “We as anthropologists tend to pick up every small morphological detail, but the truth is that if we found a Neanderthal, put a suit on him, and sent him to stroll in Tel Aviv, probably nobody would notice him.”

Asked whether it is possible that Neanderthals and early humans just lived together, without even forming distinct groups, Hershkovitz said the question is almost philosophical.

If we found a Neanderthal, put a suit on him, and sent him to stroll in Tel Aviv, probably nobody would notice him

“We tend to consider modern humans as always ready to wage war and therefore assume that the Sapiens must have violently eliminated the Neanderthals,” Hershkovitz said.

“However, I believe that this aggressive streak only emerged among humans after the agricultural revolution,” he said. “Therefore, it is possible that in the Middle Paleolithic, hominins did not care about differences and coexisted peacefully.”