TARRAGONA, SPAIN—Some 10,000 Neanderthal artifacts, hearths, and a sleeping area have been found this month at Abric Romaní, an archaeological site in the Catalonia region of Spain. Archaeologists from The Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) found a hole among the hearths and heated rocks near a wall of the rockshelter that may have been used to heat water some 60,000 years ago. Other artifacts from this level of the cave suggests that the Neanderthal inhabitants used different parts of the cave for butchering game, tool knapping, and trash disposal. An area in the inner part of the rockshelter is thought to have been used for sleeping because it had a lower density of artifacts. The researchers say that this is the first time that a sleeping area has been identified at a Neanderthal site. To read more about Paleolithic domestic spaces, go to "Letter From France: Structural Integrity."
