A Glimpse into Neanderthal Symbolism. Neanderthals have long been associated with complex tool-making and survival skills, but their capacity for symbolic thought has often been debated.

The discovery of a 43,000-year-old fingerprint in Spain is challenging the idea that Neanderthals were not capable of symbolic art.

This isn’t the first time a Neanderthal fingerprint has been pinpointed, the authors noted. A partial one, likely made by a thumb, was found on resin discovered in Germany in 1963.

Researchers in Spain say they have found evidence that Neanderthals were capable of creating art — challenging the idea that art began with the modern humans who succeeded them.

Neanderthals, a distinct species that went extinct around 40,000 years ago, lived alongside early modern humans in Europe, Asia and the Middle East for at least part of their existence ...

Oldest Known Human Fingerprint Detected on Neanderthal Object News May 29, 2025 Álvarez-Alonso et al. 2025, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ...

Slimak determined that this particular Neanderthal lived 42,000 years ago, towards the end of that species’ time on this planet. As such, he named the Neanderthal Thorin after the Tolkien character.