Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France

Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France

Two ring-like structures made of low walls of broken stalagmite pieces, deep in a cave in France, are described and dated to around 176,000 years ago, suggesting human-made construction within the period of early Neanderthals, although the function of the structures remains conjectural. Very little is known of the cultural life of Neanderthals, the extinct hominins most closely related to modern humans, and of the earliest Neanderthals we know n…