The composition of a Neandertal social group revealed by the hominin footprints at Le Rozel (Normandy, France)
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Footprints represent a unique snapshot of hominin life. They provide information on the size and composition of groups that differs from osteological and archeological remains, whose contemporaneity is difficult to establish. We report here on the discovery of 257 footprints dated to 80,000 y from the Paleolithic site at Le Rozel (Normandy, France), which represent the largest known Neandertal ichnological assemblage to date. We investigate the size and composition of a track-maker group from this large set by developing a morphometric method based on experimental footprints. Our analyses indicate that the footprints were made by a small group comprising different age classes, from early childhood to adult, with a majority of children. The Le Rozel footprints thus provide direct evidence for the size and composition of a Neandertal social group.
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One of the main differences between modern humans and Neanderthals has been the composition and size of social groups: Neanderthal groups were small (10-30 individuals), while modern humans developed complex societies.
“one of the main differences between modern humans and Neanderthals has been the composition and size of social groups: while Neanderthal groups were small, composed of 10–30 individuals, modern humans developed complex societies (Duveau, et al. 2019).”
From <i>DLX5/6</i> GABAergic Expression Affects Social Vocalization: Implications for Human Evolution (2021) · cites this paper as Duveau, et al. 2019
The paper’s opening section says indirect estimates suggest Neandertal groups averaged 10–30 individuals per site, while cautioning that the estimates depend on uncertain assumptions. It does not establish the claimed contrast with modern humans or say that modern humans developed complex societies. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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<i>DLX5/6</i> GABAergic Expression Affects Social Vocalization: Implications for Human Evolution
Levi, G., de Lombares, C., Giuliani, C., Iannuzzi, V., Aouci, R., Garagnani, P., Franceschi, C., Grimaud-Hervé, D., & Narboux-Nême, N. (2021) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msab181 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
- Authors
- Duveau, J., Berillon, G., Verna, C., Laisné, G., & Cliquet, D.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique, CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia, 75013 Paris, France;
- Ministère de la Culture (FR)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2019-09-09
- Volume
- 116
- Issue
- 39
- Pages
- 19409-19414
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC6765299
- OpenAlex
- W2973056189
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 40.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Ministère de la culture (CERFA 121-56*05)
- Département de La Manche (CERFA 121-56*05)
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (ED 227 (Doctoral grant))
- French National Research Agency (ANR-18-CE27-0010-01 HoBIS)
- CNRS INEE International Research Network (IRN-GDRI0870)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Keywords
- Neanderthals, hominin footprints, social group composition, group size, age structure, ichnology, morphometrics, Paleolithic, hominin behavior
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Archaeology, Foot, Fossils, France, Neanderthals, Sociological Factors
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