Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may have shared knowledge and culture regarding hunting and stone tools.
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Neanderthals were a species of human that lived until about 40,000 years ago. It is known that they interbred with modern humans (Homo sapiens) , and that modern humans have inherited Neanderthal DNA . New research by researchers in Japan, Turkey, France, and other countries suggests that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may have shared a culture.
Long-term cultural continuity across the Neanderthal–modern human sequence at Üçağızlı II Cave, northern Levant | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2609061123
Neanderthals and modern humans shared values—a history of human interaction revealed by tiny shell fossils— | Kyoto University
https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research-news/2026-07-07
Humans And Neanderthals Shared a Culture For 20,000 Years, Cave Discovery Suggests : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-and-neanderthals-may-have-shared-a-culture-for-20000-years
Neanderthals and modern humans may have shared culture 59,000 years ago in Turkey, study finds | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/neanderthals/modern-humans-and-neanderthals-may-have-shared-long-term-cultural-continuity
A research team from Kyoto University and Gaziantep University in Turkey conducted an excavation of the Uçazli II cave, located on the Mediterranean coast in southern Turkey. The Uçazli II cave lies on the route taken by early Homo sapiens and other prehistoric humans when they migrated from the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean coast) to the Eurasian continent.
The excavation team unearthed teeth and jawbone fragments believed to belong to humans in Ucházli II Cave, and by analyzing their internal structures, they were able to distinguish between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens remains. They also used light-stimulated luminescence dating to determine when the buried minerals were last exposed to sunlight.
The investigation revealed that Neanderthals inhabited Ucházuri II Cave approximately 77,000 to 59,000 years ago, and Homo sapiens approximately 59,000 to 47,000 years ago. Furthermore, although from different periods, 'almost uniform hunting and gathering strategies and stone tool technology' were confirmed in the strata of both groups, suggesting that the hunting and gathering strategies and stone tool usage of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens were similar.
The following images show the excavation at Ucházli II Cave, taken in 2024.
Neanderthals and Homo sapiens both collected raw materials such as flint from the same source, and evidence has been found that they hunted prey such as
Furthermore, 29 shells of the small marine snail , *African oyster*, were discovered across multiple geological layers. Since *African oyster* is not suitable for consumption, it is believed that it was brought into the cave as an ornament. Some shells had holes drilled through them for threading strings, and shells showing signs of intentional heating were found in Neanderthal-era layers.
These findings suggest that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, who lived along the eastern Mediterranean coast in prehistoric times, interacted and shared knowledge of hunting and stone tooling, as well as cultural traditions, over centuries.
The following is an example of seashells excavated from Ucházli II Cave.
Associate Professor Naoki Morimoto of the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, and co-author of the paper, commented, 'These cultural commonalities extended not only to practical aspects such as stone tools and food, but also to the collection of impractical natural objects. In particular, the two human species commonly collected seashells of specific species that were unsuitable for consumption. Our research group believes that the commonalities in culture across species were based on interaction between the two groups, and that the foundation of this interaction was a shared set of values that transcended species, as evidenced by the collection of specific 'useless but beautiful' seashells.'
The science media outlet Live Science pointed out that despite the Levant being an important region in human history, there are few human fossil discoveries. While this analysis provides important insights into ancient human history, it stated that further research is needed to learn more about the interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
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