Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Chatelperronian.

ABSTRACT: There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000-40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with modern human industries, such as the Aurignacian, were excavated from three of the Châtelperronian levels at the site, along with Neanderthal fossil remains (mainly teeth). This extremely rare occurrence has been taken to suggest that Neanderthals were the creators of these items. Whether Neanderthals independently achieved this level of behavioral comp

SUBMITTER: Higham T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996711 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature