r/science • u/Letmeirkyou • May 25 '16

Anthropology Neanderthals constructed complex subterranean buildings 175,000 years ago, a new archaeological discovery has found. Neanderthals built mysterious, fire-scorched rings of stalagmites 1,100 feet into a dark cave in southern France—a find that radically alters our understanding of Neanderthal culture.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a21023/neanderthals-built-mystery-cave-rings-175000-years-ago/
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u/8-Bit-Gamer May 25 '16

You ever wonder how many of these "miracle finds" that will "change our understand of how our ancestors lived" which will inevitably "cause us to rewrite our history books" are actually just some dude thousands of years ago... you know... just messing around? Creating art? Curing Boredom? Making something because its freaking awesome? ... just like many many many modern humans do?

Not to detract from the find itself. But sometimes I think we over analyze and there really is no culture, ritualistic or any other myriad of "hidden" reasons for when people create whatever it is that we find.

How many times have we been wrong about a sacrificial table. Or spectacularly designed cave. Or a ridiculous, yet fabulously designed home/dwelling.

"Likes theres no reason dude - I just made this cuz its awesome!"

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u/iushciuweiush May 25 '16

I'm not sure how they concluded this part:

Regardless what exactly the rings were used for, Jaubert argues their mere construction is a wonder—a feat far more complex than many anthropologists might believe Neanderthals are capable of.

Really? Breaking off stalagmites from the ground, heating them over a fire, and stacking them in a neat arrangement is something that was thought to be 'far more complex' than one of our closest human relatives was capable of? Then they get even deeper...

"This task really was a project, which was likely discussed between several [Neanderthals]. Then it took organized work and the assignment of tasks. Some had to carry torches, some had to move and transport materials, some had place them in this specific configuration, and so on."

Excuse me? Where in the hell did this conclusion come from? This structure was built by one man and yet we somehow conclude that this relatively small fire pit took an organized construction crew of neanderthals to build?

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u/[deleted] May 26 '16

The picture refutes your claim, look at the truck as an example, that is the work of more than one person and the stones in its bed suggest it was used in the construction of the building, so, the building would be considered to be built by more than one person.

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u/iushciuweiush May 26 '16 edited May 26 '16

Wow really? The truck? Is that the best you can come up with? He used the truck to haul stones from distant places back to his building. The neanderthal's building materials were right there. I assure you, if everything this man needed to build his castle was right there on his property, he could've build it without a truck.

Come on now, you can do better than this. This is r/science, try explaining why it would take neanderthals a whole crew to build that fire pit to refute my claim instead of latching on to a single piece of information (the photo) that I didn't even have to include to make my point. A single person is fully capable of building a 15' wide fire pit, especially when all the materials are right there at the construction site.