Study Suggests Neanderthals Hunted Elephants Some 125,000 Years Ago

MODENA, ITALY—Sci News reports that Neanderthals may have hunted straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) some 125,000 years ago in northeastern Germany at the site of Neumark-Nord. “The straight-tusked elephant was an iconic species of the European Pleistocene Interglacial ecosystem, sharing the landscape with Neanderthals during the warmer periods of the Middle and Late Pleistocene,” said Elena Armaroli of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. It was not clear, however, if Neanderthals hunted elephants, or if they scavenged their carcasses. Armaroli and her colleagues measured the levels of strontium isotopes in molars from four straight-tusked elephants recovered at Neumark-Nord. “Their teeth show that they traveled very long distances—up to 185 miles—before reaching what is now Neumark-Nord,” said Federico Lugli of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. “This allows us to reconstruct their home ranges and understand how these animals used the landscape,” he explained. The researchers also concluded through the analysis of proteins in the tooth enamel that three of the four elephants were males, and that they ranged over a larger territory than the one female elephant in the study. “The concentration of remains and the isotope profile of the animals suggest that Neanderthals did not kill the elephants merely when a favorable opportunity arose,” Armaroli reasoned. Rather, the study suggests that Neanderthals understood the landscape and the animals’ habits, organized their hunting party, and planned their attack. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about the remains of a straight-tusked elephant unearthed at the site of Marathousa, go to "Around the World: Greece."