PHOTO: JOÃO ZILHÃO
on Gibraltar, a narrow peninsula at Spain’s
southern Mediterranean coast ( 9 ). Since
then, archaeologists have discovered ad-
ditional European sites containing thin
scatters of artefacts, shellfish, and the oc-
casional seal dating from between ~100,000
and 40,000 years ago ( 4 , 10 ), although
these discoveries sometimes lack data
to verify their anthropogenic origins.
Since the 1990s, excavations from
the African MSA uncovered coastal
sites of early modern humans dating
back to ~160,000 to 50,000 years ago.
These sites contain dense accumula-
tions of stone tools and shellfish ( 1 ,
8 ), including spectacular finds such
as beads made from shells and shell
containers for paint ( 11 , 12 ). Some of
these localities exhibit true shell-mid-
den deposits—sediments almost com-
pletely composed of shells—otherwise
known only from the Holocene or
recent hunter-gatherers. Contrasting
this newfound record with the com-
paratively meager remains from
the European Mediterranean coast
has raised doubts about Neanderthals’
ability to exploit coasts in a similarly
efficient and enduring manner ( 6 ).
The findings of Zilhão et al. shed
new light on these issues. The authors
report on excavations at a cave site,
Figueira Brava, along the Atlantic
coast of Portugal, where marine pro-
ductivity is high. Neanderthals left stone
tools and the remains of consumed animals
within a well-documented stratigraphic se-
quence dated, by use of various chronomet-
ric methods, to ~106,000 to 86,000 years
ago. The menu included a variety of surf
and turf: shellfish, crabs, and fish from the
ocean but also waterfowl, red deer, horse,
and even pine nuts. This evidence shows
a flexible approach to subsistence that en-
compassed all surrounding ecosystems.
The authors convincingly demonstrate
that Neanderthals collected marine foods,
with densities of shellfish and fish falling
well into the range of the highest frequen-
cies of rich southern African MSA sites.
The variable but consistent signal of these
behaviors across multiple archaeological
layers at Figueira Brava provides robust
evidence of systematic, long-term coastal
adaptations by Neanderthals during the
Pleistocene. Furthermore, the new find-
ings appear to show the same kinds of in-
teractions with coasts and marine foods as
those of early H. sapiens. Thus, the current
study refutes the theory that Neanderthals
were not able to efficiently extract diverseSCIENCEocean resources in large quantities ( 6 ).
However, one archaeological site does not
make a pattern: Figueira Brava constitutes
a single high-density example comparable
with key MSA sites of southern Africa.
Whether this situation resulted from high
marine productivity and favorable pres-
ervation, as suggested by Zilhão et al., re-
mains a hypothesis in need of further re-search along the Atlantic coasts of Portugal
and Spain.
Ultimately, scientists should take a step
back and look at the broader picture:
Considering the entire archaeological re-
cord of coastal adaptations by Neanderthals
and MSA modern humans from ~60 sites
( 8 ), the new study adds important, high-
resolution data showing that under some
circumstances, the two species shared
comparable behaviors. However, taking
into account all available evidence from
coastal sites, the behavioral records of early
H. sapiens show more intense occupations
of shorelines and use of marine resources
compared with Neanderthals’. Furthermore,
several MSA sites have yielded shell beads,
whereas such ornaments are absent from
most coastal Neanderthal sites ( 8 ), as is the
case at Figueira Brava.
After a century of studies in Europe and
a much shorter research history in Africa,
multifaceted differences in scale and mag-
nitude remain between the two records,
and these are hard to explain with preser-
vation and ecology alone. As with many re-
cent archaeological findings in PleistoceneEurope—including rare jewelry made
from eagle talons and potential cave art
by Neanderthals ( 13 ), which sparked wide
interest and lively debate—the new study
narrows the gap between H. sapiens and its
closest ancestors but does not close it.
Where should the archaeology of early
coastal adaptations go from here? The key
to expanding our knowledge about the
origins, extent, and importance of
coastal adaptations across species of
Homo is to further explore African
and Eurasian seashores that escaped
Pleistocene sea-level highstands and
occur beside productive oceans with
narrow continental shelves. This
endeavor might require aid from
underwater archaeology ( 14 ). Wider
implications of coastal adaptations
for human evolution must be recon-
sidered in an interspecies frame-
work. Marine foods play a crucial
role in some scenarios for the evo-
lution of the human brain because
they are particularly rich in omega-3
fatty acids and other brain-selective
nutrients ( 15 ). Interdisciplinary
studies involving archaeology, bio-
chemistry, and neuroscience could
examine the long-term cognitive and
health effects of the consumption of
variable amounts of seafood, both
in H. sapiens and in Neanderthals.
On the basis of increasing evidence
from coastal landscapes, open ques-
tions about dispersal corridors and
refugia of archaic and modern hu-
mans might likewise need a fresh look and
renewed fieldwork. Considering current
interest, the coast is clear for these lines
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10.1126/science.abb3568A prime view of the
Atlantic Ocean can
be seen from the cave
site Figueira Brava.Neanderthals left stone tools and the remains
of marine and terrestrial animals at Figueira Brava.27 MARCH 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6485 1423