Everything Everywhere Daily · Wednesday, September 30, 2026
While direct evidence of Neanderthal art is debated, their use of pigments like red ochre and collection of objects such as shells and eagle claws suggest symbolic behavior. An extraordinary find in Bruniquel Cave, France, reveals a structure made of hundreds of stalagmites, dating back about 176,000 years, predating Homo sapiens in Western Europe, indicating complex behavior.
“We know Neanderthals used pigments such as red ochre. They also collected unusual objects, including shells, feathers, and eagle claws, and some objects appear to have been modified for ornamentation.”
“At the Bruniquel Cave in Southern France, people broke hundreds of stalagmites and arranged them into a large circular structure more than 300 meters inside a cave. The structure dates to about 176,000 years ago, long before Homo sapiens ever arrived in Western Europe.”