New research suggests cavemen hunted turtles, but not to eat

By Stephen Beech

Cavemen hunted turtles — but not for food, suggests new research.

Shells of reptiles caught by children may have been used as ladles or digging devices by early humans over 100,000 years ago, say scientists.

Careful cleaning of fragments found at the Neumark-Nord archaeological site in Germany indicates that pond turtle shells were used as small containers or scoop-like implements.

An international research team examined pieces of turtle shell, dating back around 125,000 years, discovered at the dig in what is now the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany.

Using methods including high-resolution 3D scanning, the researchers found that many of the 92 fragments bear cut marks on their inner surfaces, indicating that the turtles were carefully butchered by Neanderthals — with limbs detached, internal organs removed, and the shells thoroughly cleaned.

Study leader Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser said: "Our data provide the first evidence that Neanderthals hunted and processed turtles north of the Alps, beyond the Mediterranean region."

But the team believe the turtles were not used as a food source.

Gaudzinski-Windheuser, of the Institute for Ancient Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU), Mainz, said: "We can virtually rule this out given the abundance of remains from large, high-yield prey animals at this site.

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"There was in all likelihood a complete caloric surplus."

A total of more than 100,000 animal bones or bone fragments have already been recovered at Neumark-Nord, including numerous bones from deer, cattle, and horses, as well as from the largest land mammals of the time — the European straight-tusked elephant, which could weigh more than 10 tonnes.

The research team reported last year that Neanderthals had operated a kind of "factory" at the site, systematically extracting fat from the bones of large mammals.

Gaudzinski-Windheuser said: "With a weight of around one kilo, pond turtles have a comparatively low nutritional value.

"However, they are relatively easy to catch and may therefore have been hunted by children.

"Their shells may then have been processed into tools."

She says it is also possible that they were hunted for their taste or for an assumed medicinal value, a suggestion supported by findings from studies of later indigenous peoples.

Gaudzinski-Windheuser added: "Our current results shed new light on the ecological flexibility and complex survival strategies of Neanderthals, which went far beyond simple caloric maximization."

The new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is the latest in a series of ongoing scientific analyses of material from the former open-cast lignite mine at Neumark-Nord.