neanderthals made art too startling new research suggests 2650173

Archaeologists at Complutense University in Madrid have published research suggesting that Neanderthals created art, challenging the long-held belief that only Homo sapiens were capable of symbolic expression. At the San Lázaro rock shelter in central Spain, a site occupied by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago, researchers discovered a large granite pebble with a red ocher dot applied by a fingertip, along with carved cupules that form a face-like arrangement. Analysis by the Spanish National Police confirmed the dot was intentionally made, and the pebble was transported from three miles away, indicating deliberate selection and symbolic thought.