Neanderthal sites often reveal evidence of cultural practices. The image at left is a museum reconstruction of a Neanderthal cave burial at Dordogne, France. The deceased was buried in a fetal position with tools and food; a bear skull lies at the edge of the grave. Flower pollen found in the grave suggests that medicinal plants were scattered over the body as well. These practices obviously suggest complex beliefs and rituals.
Some Neanderthal individuals lived to middle age or older, even a few examples who had suffered crippling diseases or injuries. The two upper arm bones (humeri) at right are from a male of about 45 years of age from Shanidar, in Iraq; the left arm is completely withered from an early injury or disease. The fact that the individual with an injury this severe survived into a relatively advanced age implies the existence of a complex social life in which other group members would have shared food and life-supporting tasks. This individual must have contributed something other than physical strength to the social group in which he lived.
It is not clear whether Neanderthals had a developed language, but there is evidence of significant cultural development.
Neanderthal sites often reveal evidence of cultural practices. The image at left is a museum reconstruction of a Neanderthal cave burial at Dordogne, France. The deceased was buried in a fetal position with tools and food; a bear skull lies at the edge of the grave. Flower pollen found in the grave suggests that medicinal plants were scattered over the body as well. These practices obviously suggest complex beliefs and rituals.