Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36702939›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2023

A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania.

Enrique Baquedano, Juan L Arsuaga, Alfredo Pérez-González, César Laplana, Belén Márquez, Rosa Huguet, Sandra Gómez-Soler, Lucía Villaescusa, M Ángeles Galindo-Pellicena, Laura Rodríguez and 24 more

Erratum issuedFull text read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Early human collective practices and symbolism in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Southwest Asia.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

34 authors.

Enrique BaquedanoMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain. enrique.baquedano@madrid.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6079-9390
Juan L ArsuagaDepartment of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Geology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5361-2295
Alfredo Pérez-GonzálezDepartment of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Geology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1122-9313
César LaplanaMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2067-4091
Belén MárquezMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8979-6612
Rosa HuguetIPHES-CERCA, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1750-6249
Sandra Gómez-SolerMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2364-9067
Lucía VillaescusaMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2313-375X
M Ángeles Galindo-PellicenaMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3331-1043
Laura RodríguezDepartment of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, León, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5090-1582
Rebeca García-GonzálezLaboratory of Human Evolution, Faculty of Humanities and Communication, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
M-Cruz OrtegaUCM-ISCIII Research Centre for Human Evolution and Behaviour, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4542-1920
David M Martín-PereaInstitute of Evolution in Africa, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3238-0904
Ana I OrtegaNational Research Centre for Human Evolution (FA-CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4034-0128
Lucía Hernández-VivancoInstitute of Evolution in Africa, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2667-8496
Juan Gómez-HernanzMuseo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9593-9648
Ana AbrunhosaNational Research Centre for Human Evolution (FA-CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9720-2623
Abel MoclánInstitute of Evolution in Africa, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5555-7760
Ana I CasadoPhysical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9365-557X
Marina Vegara-RiquelmeInstitute of Evolution in Africa, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0781-2098
Ana Álvarez-FernándezLaboratory of Human Evolution, Faculty of Humanities and Communication, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2200-9869
Ángel C Domínguez-GarcíaDepartment of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Geology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1762-6328
Diego J Álvarez-LaoGeology Department, Oviedo University, Oviedo, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9606-4548
Nuria GarcíaDepartment of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Geology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5493-5720
Paloma SevillaDepartment of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Geology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7425-7173
Hugues-Alexandre BlainIPHES-CERCA, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9920-2707
Blanca Ruiz-ZapataDepartment of Geology, Geography and Environment, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6056-7074
M José Gil-GarcíaDepartment of Geology, Geography and Environment, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8882-7541
Adrián Álvarez-VenaGeology Department, Oviedo University, Oviedo, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2699-722X
Rolf QuamUCM-ISCIII Research Centre for Human Evolution and Behaviour, Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1140-5615
Tom HighamOxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This work examines the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the analysis of the latter's archaeological assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infill was found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone remains dominated by the crania of large ungulates, some associated with small hearths. The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth, mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of anthropogenic modification of the crania (cut and percussion marks), indicates that the carcasses of the corresponding animals were initially processed outside the cave, and the crania were later brought inside. A second round of processing then took place, possibly related to the removal of the brain. The continued presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates that this behaviour was recurrent during this level's formation. This behaviour seems to have no subsistence-related purpose but to be more symbolic in its intent.

Indexed as

NeanderthalsAnimalsArchaeologyHerbivoryMammalsSkullSpain

Identifiers

PMID36702939
PMCPMC10038806

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.