Cultural Exchange

I don't know why we assumed that Neanderthals were barely able to grunt, much less develop a sophisticated culture. I mean, we knew they buried their dead and things like that, which should have given us enough clues so that things like this are no surprise:

"In Germany and France there appears to be two separate handaxe traditions, with clear boundaries, indicating complete separate, independent developments," said Karen Ruebens, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The transition zone in Belgium and Northern France indicates contact between the different groups of Neanderthals, which is generally difficult to identify but has been much talked about, especially in relation to later contacts with groups of modern humans. This area can be seen as a melting pot of ideas where mobile groups of Neanderthals, both from the eastern and western tradition, would pass by--influencing each other's designs and leaving behind a more varied record of bifacial tools."

So what did these handaxes look like? The Neanderthals in the western region made ones that were symmetrical, triangular and heart-shaped. In the eastern region, Neanderthals created asymmetrically shaped bifacial knives.

"Distinct ways of making a handaxe were passed on from generation to generation and for long enough to become visible in the archaeological record," said Reubens. "This indicates a strong mechanism of social learning between these two groups and says something about the stability and connectivity of Neanderthal populations."

The findings reveal that these ancient people were far more advanced than we once believed. They learned from one another and passed down information through generations. In addition, the study reveals that time, effort and tradition were involved in making these stone tools.

Well, duh.

(Footnote: we know that chimpanzees learn from one another and pass down information -- like how to use a grass stem to catch termites, as observed by Jane Goodall. But we didn't figure that human beings could do the same thing?)