Revised age for Schöningen hunting spears indicates intensification of Neanderthal cooperative behavior around 200,000 years ago

TY - JOUR

T1 - Revised age for Schöningen hunting spears indicates intensification of Neanderthal cooperative behavior around 200,000 years ago

AU - Hutson, Jarod

AU - Nelson, Ellie

AU - Penkman, Kirsty Elizabeth Helena

AU - White, Dustin Scott

AU - Jöris, O.

N1 - © 2025 theAuthors

PY - 2025/5/9

Y1 - 2025/5/9

N2 - The Schöningen 13II-4 archaeological site in Germany holds title to the most complete Paleolithic wooden hunting spears ever discovered, yet its age has never been properly settled. Initial estimates placed the site at around 400,000 years; this age was later revised to roughly 300,000 years. Here, we report age estimates for the "Spear Horizon" based on amino acid geochronology of fossils obtained directly from the find-bearing deposits. Together with a reassessment of regional Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphy, these data place the Schöningen spears at ~200,000 years. This revised age positions the Spear Horizon alongside other sites that collectively record a shift toward communal hunting strategies. The Schöningen archaeological record exemplifies this behavioral transformation that arose within the increasingly complex social environments of Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals.

AB - The Schöningen 13II-4 archaeological site in Germany holds title to the most complete Paleolithic wooden hunting spears ever discovered, yet its age has never been properly settled. Initial estimates placed the site at around 400,000 years; this age was later revised to roughly 300,000 years. Here, we report age estimates for the "Spear Horizon" based on amino acid geochronology of fossils obtained directly from the find-bearing deposits. Together with a reassessment of regional Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphy, these data place the Schöningen spears at ~200,000 years. This revised age positions the Spear Horizon alongside other sites that collectively record a shift toward communal hunting strategies. The Schöningen archaeological record exemplifies this behavioral transformation that arose within the increasingly complex social environments of Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105005029725&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.adv0752

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.adv0752

M3 - Article

C2 - 40344053

AN - SCOPUS:105005029725

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 11

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 19

M1 - eadv0752

ER -