Up against the wall and buried in the infill blocking the original cave entrance to Einhornhöhle (Unicorn Cave), MSc student Gabriele Russo from the University of Tuebingen in Germany, discovers the Megaloceros bone containing the engravings. Einhornhöhle (Unicorn Cave) in the Harz Mountains, Lower Saxony, Germany, has been an important archaeological site for a number of decades. Situated today in lush green, tranquil, rolling hills, this small cave was once home to Neanderthals. Recently, a bone from the now extinct giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) was excavated from sediments that blocked a previous entrance. Importantly, the bone contained engravings in the form of a chevron (i.e. not random) indicating that Neanderthals had the capacity for abstract thinking. These findings were recently published in the journal Nature Evolution & Ecology. In the summer of 2021, researchers announced the discovery of the first directly-dated piece of Neanderthal art: A distinctly-carved bone from a now extinct giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus). It was excavated from sediments that blocked an ancient entrance to Einhornhöhle (Unicorn Cave) in Germany’s Harz Mountains. Most Important to researchers, the bone featured a deliberate engraving in the form of a chevron, indicating that Neanderthals had the capacity for symbolic thinking—and what some researchers believe is “art.”. These findings were recently published in the journal Nature Evolution & Ecology.
