MADRID, SPAIN—Science News reports that incisions have been found on a 39,000-year-old imperial eagle toe fossil unearthed in northeastern Spain’s Foradada Cave. The marks are thought have been made when a talon was removed from the eagle’s foot for use as a pendant, and serve as the first evidence of the ornamental use of eagle talons during the Neanderthal period to be found in the Iberian Peninsula, according to archaeologist Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo of the Institute of Human Evolution in Africa and his colleagues. A total of 12 bones from birds of prey, including seven toe bones and one talon, were found in the cave. Bird toe bones and claws dating to between 130,000 and 42,000 years ago have been recovered at 10 other Neanderthal sites in southern Europe. For more, go to "Neanderthal Fashion Statement."
