Skip to main content
institutional access

You are connecting from
Lake Geneva Public Library,
please login or register to take advantage of your institution's Ground News Plan.

Published loading...Updated

New Evidence Suggests Neanderthals Were Rendering Fat Nearly 100,000 Years Before Other Early Humans

GERMANY, JUL 2 – Neanderthals extracted fat from over 172 large animals by smashing and boiling bones to avoid protein poisoning and sustain energy during scarcity, researchers say.

  • Neanderthals were rendering fat from crushed animal bones around 125,000 years ago in the Neumark-Nord region of Germany, as indicated by new archaeological research published in Science Advances.
  • This finding shows that Neanderthals used fat extraction much earlier than modern humans, who have been using the process for at least 28,000 years.
  • The extra calories from bone-derived grease were vital to human evolution, potentially increasing lifespan and reproduction.
  • The research suggests that fat extraction may have saved Neanderthals from risks associated with their largely meat-based diet, which posed dangers like protein poisoning.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?

55 Articles

Lean Right

Neanderthals ensured their survival with, among other things, fat, which they won in specially built factories. Researchers are currently evaluating well over 100,000 bones and tools that were found near Halle. The findings are astounding.

·Dortmund, Germany
Read Full Article
Lean Left

Complex and multi-stage organization was required to operate the fat factory efficiently.

der Standard ATder Standard AT
Reposted by
der Standard DEder Standard DE
Lean Left

Our extinct relatives operated large-scale fat processing at the site Neumark-Nord 2 near Halle. This required systematic planning and foresight

·Vienna, Austria
Read Full Article
Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center

Factuality 

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

NRC Handelsblad broke the news in Netherlands on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Sources are mostly out of (0)
News
For You
Search
BlindspotLocal