Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40601744›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Large-scale processing of within-bone nutrients by Neanderthals, 125,000 years ago.

Lutz Kindler, Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Fulco Scherjon, Alejandro Garcia-Moreno, Geoff M Smith, Eduard Pop, John D Speth, Wil Roebroeks

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. 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. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Lutz KindlerMONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-6897-1370
Sabine Gaudzinski-WindheuserMONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4770-311X
Fulco ScherjonMONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-5859-8813
Alejandro Garcia-MorenoMONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4861-7774
Geoff M SmithDepartment of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7155-5140
Eduard PopFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-1442-3787
John D SpethDepartment of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8166-7899
Wil RoebroeksFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5075-6899

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Diet played a key role in human evolution, making the study of past diet and subsistence strategies a crucial research topic within paleoanthropology. Lipids are a crucial resource for hunter-gatherers, especially for foragers whose diet is based heavily on animal foods. Recent foragers have expended substantial amounts of energy to obtain this resource, including time-consuming production of bone grease, a resource intensification practice thus far only documented for Upper Paleolithic populations. We present archaeological data from the lake landscape of Neumark-Nord (Germany), where Last Interglacial Neanderthals processed at least 172 large mammals at a water's edge site. Their (partial) carcasses were transported to this location for the extraction of within-bone nutrients, particularly bone grease. This "fat factory" constitutes a well-documented case of grease rendering predating the Upper Paleolithic, with the special task location devoted to extraction of nutritionally important lipids forming an important addition to our knowledge of Neanderthal adaptations.

Indexed as

Bone and BonesNeanderthalsNutrientsAnimalsArchaeologyDietFossilsHistory, AncientHumansNutrients

Identifiers

PMID40601744
PMCPMC12219469

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.