CNN — Neanderthals were not the brutish cave dwellers popular culture often depicts them to be. A new study has revealed that these extinct hominins were skilled hunters and even knew how to preserve and store meat. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, found that the Neanderthals systematically butchered 70 Palaeoloxodon antiquus (straight-tusked elephants) that weighed as much as eight cars each at a site in central Germany known as Neumark-Nord, near the city of Halle.
The discovery of the distinct pattern of repetitive cut marks on the surface of the well-preserved bones revealed that the giant elephants were dismembered for their meat, fat and brains after death, following a more or less standard procedure over a period of about 2,000 years. The Neanderthals likely used thrusting and throwing spears to target the male elephants because of their larger size and solitary behavior, said study coauthor Wil Roebroeks, a professor of Paleolithic archaeology at Leiden University in Germany. The demographics of the site skewed toward older and male elephants than would be expected had the animals died naturally. It’s possible that such a meat bonanza was an opportunity for temporary gatherings of people from a larger social network, said study coauthor Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, a professor of prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. The study underscores the fact that Neanderthals weren’t brutish cave dwellers so often depicted in popular culture. In fact, the opposite is true: They were skilled hunters, understood how to process and preserve food, and thrived in a variety of different ecosystems and climates. Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter to explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more