title: Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France.
abstract: Very little is known about Neanderthal cultures, particularly early ones. Other than lithic implements and exceptional bone tools, very few artefacts have been preserved. While those that do remain include red and black pigments and burial sites, these indications of modernity are extremely sparse and few have been precisely dated, thus greatly limiting our knowledge of these predecessors of modern humans. Here we report the dating of annular constructions made of broken stalagmites found deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwest France. The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites and several traces of fire demonstrate the anthropogenic origin of these constructions. Uranium-series dating of stalagmite regrowths on the structures and on burnt bone, combined with the dating of stalagmite tips in the structures, give a reliable and replicated age of 176.5 thousand years (±2.1 thousand years), making these edifices among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans. Their presence at 336 metres from the entrance of the cave indicates that humans from this period had already mastered the underground environment, which can be considered a major step in human modernity.
authors.affiliation: PACEA, UMR 5199 CNRS-UB-MCC University of Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaubert
authors.affiliation: Earth &History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.|AMGC, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verheyden
authors.affiliation: LSCE, UMR 8212 CNRS-CEA-UVSQ, 91400 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Genty
authors.affiliation: Société spéléologique et archéologique de Caussade, 5 rue Bourdelle 82300 Caussade, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soulier
authors.affiliation: Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.|Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: LSCE, UMR 8212 CNRS-CEA-UVSQ, 91400 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blamart
authors.affiliation: Earth &History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burlet
authors.affiliation: Protée Expert Sas, 30250 Sommières, France.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Camus
authors.affiliation: Faculté Polytechnique, University of Mons, 7000-Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delaby
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Géologie de l'École Normale Supérieure de Paris (ENS), UMR CNRS 8538, 75000 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deldicque
authors.affiliation: Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: R Lawrence
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: PACEA, UMR 5199 CNRS-UB-MCC University of Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrier
authors.affiliation: Archéosphère, 11500 Quirbajou, France.|Get in Situ, 1091 Bourg-en-Lavaux, Switzerland.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lacrampe-Cuyaubère
authors.affiliation: LIENSs, UMR 7266 CNRS-University of La Rochelle, 17000 La Rochelle, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lévêque
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Culture, Regional Archaeological Service of Midi-Pyrénées, 31080 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maksud
authors.affiliation: Archéostransfert, Archéovision, UMS 3657 SHS-3D, 33007 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.affiliation: Get in Situ, 1091 Bourg-en-Lavaux, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Muth
authors.affiliation: LSCE, UMR 8212 CNRS-CEA-UVSQ, 91400 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Édouard
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Régnier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Géologie de l'École Normale Supérieure de Paris (ENS), UMR CNRS 8538, 75000 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Noël
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Rouzaud
authors.affiliation: PACEA, UMR 5199 CNRS-UB-MCC University of Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059552:Caves; D060389:Construction Industry / Q000266:history; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000266:history*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000266:history; D005390:Fires / Q000266:history; D005602:France; D049690:History, Ancient; D059125:Neanderthals