Investigate Crab Shells in a 90,000 Year Old Neanderthal Cave

Nationalgeographic.co.id—A team of European scientists has investigated a collection of remains of terrestrial and marine fauna found in a Neanderthal cave, including the shells of several species of crab.

The cave in Gruta da Figueira Brava in Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals around 90,000 years ago.

Their new analysis has been published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology by title “The exploitation of crabs by Last Interglacial Iberian Neanderthals: The evidence from Gruta da Figueira Brava (Portugal).”

Detailed analysis of the crab remains revealed that the complete animals were brought to the site, where they were roasted over coals and then opened to access the meat.

“At the end of the Last Interglacial, Neanderthals regularly harvested large brown crabs,” said Mariana Nabais, scientist at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution.

“They took them in a nearby rocky beach pool, targeting adults with an average carapace width of 16 cm.”

“The animals were brought whole to the cave, where they were roasted over coals and then eaten.”

In their study, Nabais and colleagues examined the rich assemblage of Middle Paleolithic marine crustaceans, most of which are represented by the brown crab (Cancer pagurus) from the Portuguese cave site Gruta da Figueira Brava, located about 30 km south of Lisbon.

The size of the crabs in the assemblage was estimated by calculating the size of their carapace relative to their pincers, which survived better than the rest of the animals, and so were more likely to survive for scientists to find.

Scientists assess damage to the shell, looking for signs of cutting or percussion, and determine whether the crabs have been exposed to high heat.

They found that the crabs were mostly large adults which would produce about 200 g of meat.