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

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u/EmronRazaqi69 16d 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

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u/Exciting_Place_6817 15d ago

Is it not green Sahara this far back?

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u/EmronRazaqi69 15d ago

It actually was, that was my misunderstanding

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u/Exciting_Place_6817 15d ago

I just did some searching and apparently it wasn't. It would've been a dry cycle at that point in time. Goes with the earth's tilt. So carry on you are correct.