The clever ways Neanderthals got their fat long before modern humans

New research uncovers a “fat factory” run by Neanderthals 125,000 years ago, revealing they planned and processed bone grease on a scale and with a complexity long thought unique to our own species.

Study: Large-scale processing of within-bone nutrients by Neanderthals, 125,000 years ago. Image Credit: Adobe Firely

In a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers and archaeologists present and elucidate data from Neumark-Nord (Germany), comprising the remains of bones from 172 or more large mammals found in the lake landscape at a waterside site. Astonishingly, the bones were found to have been deliberately transported to the location and processed for their ‘bone grease’ (lipid and marrow) by Neanderthals of the Last Interglacial Period.

Aptly named a “fat factory”, this marvel of ancient hominid ingenuity marks the earliest well-documented case of large-scale bone grease processing, pushing back the timeline for this technology by more than 80,000 years. The findings reveal Neanderthals’ ability to support high-energy requirements and demonstrate a previously underappreciated sophistication in resource use and subsistence planning. Neanderthals, it seems, weren’t just hunter-gatherers; they were capable of complex and strategic resource exploitation.

Background

Human evolutionary studies pay special attention to dietary data, given the latter’s key role in facilitating the expansion and development of hominid species. Fat consumption and processing, in particular, are highly sought-after data sources due to their crucial role in the diets of hunter-gatherers and foragers. Fat is a fuel (life-saving in colder environments) and a precious resource for any meat-heavy diet.

Decades of archeological research have revealed that ancient humans (confirmed as early as 28,000 years ago, but presumably earlier) exploited ‘bone grease’, a lipid-rich substance obtained from the hollow cavities of vertebrae, long-bone epiphyses (joints), and other skeletal elements. This process was exceedingly time- and effort-intensive, but it rewarded these early humans with a calorie-dense food source that was critical to their survival.

Homo neanderthalensis are a now extinct species of ancient hunter-gatherers that lived between ~243,000 and 40,000 years ago. Like their later relatives, these animal-food-source-dependent hominids are well-documented to have opportunistically scavenged fat-rich marrow from long bones by breaking the bones to access the marrow and, in some ethnographic analogues, by further processing fragments to extract grease through boiling.

At Neumark-Nord, direct evidence for boiling is not present; however, there is substantial evidence for intensive bone fragmentation, fire use, and clustering of heated bone fragments, suggesting some form of lipid extraction involving heat.

However, until now, no evidence of this process involving resource intensification practices of any sort has been discovered, suggesting Homo sapiens (us) as the original inventors of comparatively large-scale and systematically organized bone processing.

The present study, however, provides robust zooarchaeological and stratigraphic evidence that Neanderthals undertook large-scale bone grease extraction at a dedicated location, predating prior firm evidence by at least 80,000 years.

About the study

The present study reinvestigates data from Neumark Nord, a preserved lakeside camp in eastern Germany where Neanderthals lived during the Last Interglacial. Earlier excavations (2004-2008) revealed open landscapes and evidence of large-game hunting, including elephants. However, the present research identified carcass remains found at the lakeshore with patterns of percussion damage, chopping marks, and refitable shaft segments, suggesting deliberate breakage.

The study leveraged the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution’s comparative collection for taxonomic identification of recovered archeological remains, crown height measurements for age-determination, and high-resolution microscopes in tandem with standardized zooarchaeology and taphonomy methods (e.g., Number of Identified Specimens [NISP]) for species abundance computations, skeletal element representation, and bone indices.

Study findings

By combining bone breakage analysis, refitting fragments, and wear patterns, researchers established that carcasses were partially butchered elsewhere, transported to the lake, then systematically processed to expose marrow and grease. In doing so, this study emphasizes that Homo neanderthalensis, and not we (Homo sapiens), were engaged in the earliest well-documented process of large-scale bone-lipid extraction at a dedicated site, marking a level of behavioral complexity previously thought to be unique to later humans.

Spatial analysis, pollen-based and luminescence stratigraphy dating, and validated these findings, further revealing that the observed patterns in which carcass remains clustered in the lakeside processing area, distinct from hunting debris or habitation refuse, underscored the site’s specialized function, dating the context to the Last Interglacial (~120,000 years ago). Named the “fat-factory,” this bone-lipid extraction site predates hypotheses of the process’s invention by more than 80,000 years, let alone archeological confirmations that are a mere 28,000 years old.

Taxonomic identification revealed that Neanderthals brought at least 172 large mammals, mainly horses, bovids, and cervids, which they butchered and transported from distinct but nearby hunting and butchery grounds to a fat factory for processing. Long bones show consistent percussion fractures, chopping marks, and clean longitudinal splits, standard methods to access marrow and grease that remained hidden to humanity until thousands of years later.

The scale and specialization of these practices emphasize nutritional planning: fat-rich bones were centrally processed and potentially shared across groups. It evidences behavioral complexity, carefully balancing transport logistics, site maintenance, and energy budgeting for maximum productive benefit, innovations previously thought to be restricted to advanced food-processing societies that emerged much later in human history.

The authors note, however, that while evidence points to specialized processing and possible resource sharing, limitations of the archaeological record mean that the precise social dynamics and duration of site use remain unresolved.

It is also important to note that these discoveries were made possible by the exceptional preservation conditions at Neumark-Nord, which enabled an unusually high-resolution archaeological and environmental reconstruction. This does not necessarily indicate that such behaviors were unique to this location or time.

Conclusions

Neanderthals at Neumark Nord weren’t just hunters and foragers; they were skilled subsistence strategists who developed a specialized food-processing system tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years earlier than previously believed. This discovery elevates their status as planners, not just the brutish eaters that most of us consider them to be.

In doing so, this paper enriches our understanding of Neanderthal social and dietary adaptations. It reminds us that even 125,000 years ago, early humans conceptualized and enacted intricate and energetically efficient behaviors to master their nutritional landscapes, although much about their social organization and the precise processes remains open for further research.

The study also highlights the diverse range of Neanderthal subsistence strategies that could be employed in response to local environments, resources, and preservation—a reminder to interpret archaeological evidence within its full ecological and taphonomic context.