Neanderthals Were Handy With Timber, Spanish Rock Shelter Suggests

BARCELONA, SPAIN — Neanderthals, long remembered chiefly for their stone tools, may have been accomplished woodworkers as well, according to a study published in Science Advances on October 7, 2026. The report, as summarized by The Debrief, concerns the Abric Romaní rock shelter near Barcelona.

Over four decades of excavation, the article states, archaeologists recovered 597 wooden remains and impressions from 16 archaeological levels dating to roughly 62,000 to 40,000 years ago. Researchers from IPHES-CERCA and Universitat Rovira i Virgili analyzed the collection. Their analysis suggests wood was not merely burned as fuel but was routinely made into tools and other objects.

Wood ordinarily rots, and the article notes that such finds are exceptionally rare. At this site, however, calcium carbonate gathered around wooden objects and formed natural molds, preserving impressions of material long since decayed. Some impressions kept enough detail to show features of the wood's internal structure. Animal bones, stone tools and hearths turned up alongside, allowing the team to study how materials and fire were used together.

The researchers were careful not to overstate matters. Most of the wood was not deliberately shaped, the article says; much of it was natural roots, branches, twigs and trunks, or fuel. Thirteen pieces, however, showed signs of having been shaped or used as tools.

Among them were two possible close-range spears, about 2.5 meters and two meters long, the shorter bearing evidence of deliberate sharpening. There was also a carved piece resembling a mace, with a handle and thicker end, whose purpose remains unknown and which has no clear parallel in earlier finds. The team further identified possible bark trays or containers, and two crossed poles that may have supported a food-preparation platform.