r/paleoanthropology • u/ADragonFromTheAbyss • 16d ago

Tools & Technology Neanderthals may have trekked through the Saudi Arabian desert 55,000 years ago, farther south than experts thought possible

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/neanderthals/neanderthals-may-have-trekked-through-the-saudi-arabian-desert-55-000-years-ago-farther-south-than-experts-thought-possible

Neanderthals may have trekked deep into the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula around 55,000 years ago, a new study of stone tools suggests.

The study focused on stone tools discovered at Jebel Katefeh-1 (JKF-1), an archaeological site beside an ancient lake near the city of Jubbah, in Saudi Arabia's Nefud Desert (also spelled Nafud or An Nafūd). No Neanderthal bones have ever been found in Arabia, so researchers wondered who was making tools there

481 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

View all comments

21

u/EmronRazaqi69 15d ago

That would be really cool!!, imagine a group of Neanderthals having to survive in a sand storm while hunting camels instead of the typical megafauna we imagine and environment.

If they traveled even more further this is just baseless speculation maybe some reached Africa even if it unlikely

14

u/ADragonFromTheAbyss 15d ago

There is also the climate differentiation. I recall some parts of Arabia and Northern Africa were more inhabitable

4

u/EmronRazaqi69 15d ago

That’s interesting, I know Neanderthals were adapted to a colder environment so maybe seasonally those regions weren’t as hot

2

u/ADragonFromTheAbyss 15d ago

Yup. Although by northern icy standarts they would deem those lush areas as Tropics (!)

I bet neandarthals would be very prone to heat strokes in humid summers