22 ARCHAEOLOGY • July/August 2019FROM THE TRENCHES
T
he size and power of golden
eagles have made these raptors
potent symbols in modern human
cultures around the world, but a new
analysis of eagle bones found at sites
across Europe and Asia shows they played
an important role for Neanderthals as
well. Researchers compiled data on bird
bones found at 154 Neanderthal sites
dating to as early as 130 , 000 years ago.
The results show that, before they made
contact with Homo sapiens, Neanderthals
across Eurasia were hunting golden
eagles and using parts of their carcasses,
mainly the talons, as jewelry or other
kinds of symbolic artifacts.
The findings run counter to the
widely accepted idea that Neanderthals
were big-game hunters who couldn’t
adapt to hunting smaller, faster prey,
such as eagles, when bigger, slower
species, such as elk and bison, were
dying out. They also suggest that,
independent of modern humans,
Neanderthals were developing symbolic
thinking alongside new techniques for
exploiting a wider variety of resources,
including birds. According to Stewart
Finlayson, director of natural history
at the Gibraltar National Museum, the
findings show just how sophisticated
Neanderthals were.
—Zach ZorichNEANDERTHAL FASHION STATEMENT
Golden eagleEagle talons