A Neanderthal’s burning structure for tar obtention

The study describes for the first time a hearth structure used by Neanderthals in Gibraltar 60,000 years ago to extract plant resins. Neanderthals used tar from woody plants as an adhesive to attach stone points to wooden shafts. The results reveal complex levels of organisation and cognition in Neanderthals, suggesting that they understood the plants they needed to select and the complex industrial process required to produce tar.