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Smashing bones is lots of work! So why do it?
I'm not an archaeologist, but I do lots of food handling logistics.
So my money's on 3 things:
-it's free real estate (more food from game already killed)
-people who aren't able-bodied adults can do it
-RENDERED FAT IS SHELF-STABLE & TASTES AWESOME
If you're hunting large animals to stay alive, instead of just for recreation,
"turning them into shelf-stable food you can keep & eat for more than 3 days afterward" is the name of the game.
So Neanderthals brought bones from their kills to this spot by a lake, pounded them to bits, & melted out the fat.
Not just any bones! They brought mostly jaws, skulls, ribs, & the *ends* of leg bones w red marrow. These bones have lots of fat inside- but you have to break them apart to get it.
I love this because when we think of "how ancient people got their food," we like to think about the big game hunting part.
But getting a carcass is just step 1!
We don't think as much about what comes next! But we should!
Jokes aside, this place tells us:
-Large-scale food processing is ~100K+ yrs older than farming.
-So is shelf-stable, high-calorie convenience food.
-So is "thinking about labor & logistics."
-Romanticizing "cavemen" as tough & austere is really funny.
So they found a 125,000 yr old Neanderthal fat rendering plant & I have thoughts.
Knowing that they loved saturated fat SO MUCH that they industrialized to get as much of it as humanly possible?
Makes me feel seen, heard, supported, etc