New evidence from fossilised dental plaque, coastal excavation sites and ancient feces is upending long-held assumptions about Neanderthal diets. Far from being brutish carnivores who hunted woolly mammoths and gnawed on raw meat, Neanderthals appear to have been remarkably adaptable eaters — with menus that included cooked crabs, medicinal plants, and even legumes.
Findings from multiple peer-reviewed studies, including a seminal paper published in Nature, reveal significant regional variation in Neanderthal diets across Europe. In northern sites like Spy Cave in Belgium, stable isotope analysis confirms a meat-heavy intake — primarily woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep. But in Spain’s El Sidrón cave, researchers found almost no trace of meat. Instead, genetic sequencing of calcified dental plaque uncovered remnants of mushrooms, pine nuts, moss, and tree bark.
“This is a complete shift from the old stereotype,” said Dr. Karen Hardy, a palaeolithic archaeologist and co-author of the Nature study. “Neanderthals didn’t just eat what they hunted. They selected, processed and possibly even cooked what the environment offered.”
A Taste for Seafood — and Maybe Shark
Nowhere is this dietary diversity more evident than at Gruta da Figueira Brava, a seaside cave just south of Lisbon. Excavations detailed in Science show Neanderthals exploiting marine resources at scale — 80,000 to 100,000 years ago.
Shell middens at the site are packed with crab shells, mollusks, and charred bones from dolphins, seals, and possibly sharks. The remains were found alongside stone tools and pine cones, suggesting a seasonal diet and some food storage practices.
“The presence of large crab claws, broken and cooked, tells us this wasn’t opportunistic scavenging,” said Professor João Zilhão, lead author of the study. “These were people who knew what they were doing — harvesting, preparing and eating seafood deliberately.”
Such dietary breadth rivals that of later Homo sapiens groups in the same region, blurring the behavioural line once thought to separate Neanderthals from anatomically modern humans.
Medicinal Knowledge Hidden in Plaque
In what may be the most surprising discovery, some Neanderthals also appear to have dabbled in medicinal plant use. DNA analysis of one individual’s dental calculus — effectively ancient plaque — revealed traces of poplar bark, rich in salicylic acid (the active ingredient in aspirin), and Penicillium, the mould that gave us penicillin.
These findings, also from the El Sidrón site, imply a rudimentary form of pharmacological knowledge, possibly passed through generations. The individual in question suffered from a dental abscess and a stomach parasite. Whether the treatment was trial-and-error or something more intentional, it paints a picture of people far more intuitive and culturally complex than often credited.
“These were not mindless scavengers,” said Dr. Laura Weyrich, the study’s lead geneticist. “They understood their ecosystem and used it to their advantage — even to ease pain and infection.”
The Uncomfortable Truth About Cannibalism
Not all discoveries point to refinement. In several sites across France, Spain and Croatia, archaeologists have uncovered Neanderthal bones marked with clear signs of butchering: cut marks, fractures for marrow extraction, and even burn traces.
Whether these instances represent survival-driven cannibalism during times of extreme scarcity, or ritualistic behaviour, remains hotly debated. Some experts argue it may reflect cultural practices — a kind of funerary rite — rather than mere desperation.
Yet even this troubling possibility suggests social complexity. As IFLScience notes, the archaeological record of dietary cannibalism in Europe is too consistent to dismiss as isolated or accidental.
The Real Paleo Diet Was Hyperlocal
In contrast to modern-day “paleo” diet trends, which promote a universal template of lean meats, nuts and vegetables, the actual Paleolithic diet appears to have been anything but standardised.
From foraged fungi in temperate forests to flame-cooked crustaceans on the Iberian coast, Neanderthals built their meals around seasonal, local resources — not ideology. The archaeological consensus is clear: Neanderthals were not just scavengers or hunters, but adaptive foragers with regional cuisines, medicinal knowledge and complex food behaviours.