Neanderthals hunted giant elephants and pursued them over hundreds of miles across Europe, according to a new study of fossils unearthed in Germany.
Previous research confirmed that Neanderthals hunted elephants for food in several regions of Europe. But what kind of elephants were frequently on their menu, and how they hunted them, remained unclear.
The Neanderthal ecological footprint across Europe is also not completely clear. The study shows the human ancestors as active hunters and gatherers operating within a rich lakeshore ecosystem.
Researchers found that Neanderthals systematically hunted large mammals, including giant straight-tusked elephants, the largest land animals in Europe at the time.
They hunted the beasts on a bigger bigger scale than previously believed, butchering animal carcasses found at different locations across Europe.
The new study analysed the different forms of carbon, oxygen, strontium and proteins found at the Neumark-Nord fossil site in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt area to reconstruct the migration behaviour, diet, and sex of dozens of prehistoric giant elephants.
Analysis of the elephant molars showed they had spent several years in different regions of Europe.
“Some of the elephants we studied were animals that did not stay in just one area. Their teeth show that they travelled very long distances – up to 300 kilometres – before reaching what is now Neumark-Nord,” said Federico Lugli, an author of the study published in the journal Science Advances.
“Thanks to isotope analyses, we can trace the movements of elephants almost as if we had a travel diary. This allows us to reconstruct their home ranges and understand how these animals used the landscape.”
This suggests that Neanderthals did not kill the beasts merely when a favourable opportunity arose.
Instead, their hunting was organised in a way that even enormous prey animals could be deliberately targeted.
“For this, Neanderthals must have known the landscape well, cooperated, and planned,” said study co-author Elena Armaroli.
The research also found that the human ancestors consumed plant foods like hazelnuts and acorns alongside meat.
They repeatedly used the resources of ecosystems across Europe and likely modified the landscape using fire.
In further research, the researchers said they hoped to determine whether Neumark was a point of attraction for elephants from different regions or the homeland of an elephant population that left the area for a certain time span.
