Researchers identify travertine impressions of ancient Neanderthal wooden tools in Spain

Archaeologists have identified 13 impressions left in travertine as wooden tools crafted by Neanderthals, Archaeology Magazine reported. The findings were made at the Abric Romaní rock shelter in northeastern Spain. Researchers estimate that Neanderthals lived in the region and made the tools between 40,000 and 62,000 years ago. [1]

According to Palmira Saladié, Gema Chacón, and Josep Vallverdú of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, the impressions were created when the wooden objects were coated with water rich in calcium carbonate, Archaeology Magazine reported. The underlying wood eventually decayed over time, leaving hollow spaces inside the sediment layer. [1]

The mechanism of preservation relies on mineralized water creating a crust that hardens into travertine or limestone-like rock before organic material rotted away, as FTMQ Science reported earlier. Researchers previously cataloged 597 wooden remains and stone molds from Paleolithic implements preserved at the Abric Romaní site. [1][5]

Neanderthals were an extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe as well as Western and Central Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene era, spanning the Iberian Peninsula where Spain is located. Their extinction was largely complete by 40,000 years ago, although populations survived longer in parts of the Iberian region. [2][4]