Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont image: Life appearance reconstruction of a Neanderthal male at the Natural History Museum of London Neanderthals emerged around 250.000 years ago from European   populations—referred to as "pre-Neanderthals"—which inhabited the Eurasian continent between 500.000 and 250.000 years ago It was long believed that no significant changes occurred throughout the evolution of Neanderthals yet recent paleogenetic research based on DNA samples extracted from fossils revealed the existence of a drastic genetic diversity loss event between early Neanderthals (or ancient Neanderthals) and later ones (also referred to as "classic" Neanderthals) Technically known as a "bottleneck" this genetic loss is frequently the consequence of a reduction in the number of individuals of a population Paleogenetic data indicate that the decline in genetic variation took place approximately 110,000 years ago The presence of an earlier bottleneck event related to the origin of the Neanderthal lineage was also a widespread assumption among the scientific community all hypotheses formulated thus far were based on the idea that the earliest Neanderthals exhibited lower genetic diversity than their pre-Neanderthal ancestors the existence of a bottleneck at the origin of the Neanderthals has not been confirmed yet through paleogenetic data mainly due to the lack of genetic sequences old enough to record the event and needed for ancient DNA studies In a study led by Alessandro Urciuoli (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and Mercedes Conde-Valverde (Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva de HM Hospitales y la Universidad de Alcalá) researchers measured the morphological diversity in the structure of the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance: the semicircular canals It is widely accepted that results obtained from studying the morphological diversity of the semicircular canals are comparable to those obtained through DNA comparisons The study focused on two exceptional collections of fossil humans: one from the Sima de los Huesos site of Atapuerca (Burgos which constitutes the largest sample of pre-Neanderthals available in the fossil record; and another from the Croatian site of Krapina this representing the most complete collection of early Neanderthals and dated to approximately 130.000-120.000 years ago The researchers calculated the amount of morphological diversity (i.e. disparity) of the semicircular canals of both samples comparing them with each other and with a sample of classic Neanderthals of different ages and geographical origins The study's findings reveal that the morphological diversity of the semicircular canals of classic Neanderthals is clearly lower than that of pre-Neanderthals and early Neanderthals which aligns with previous paleogenetic results emphasized the importance of the analyzed sample: “By including fossils from a wide geographical and temporal range we were able to capture a comprehensive picture of Neanderthal evolution The reduction in diversity observed between the Krapina sample and classic Neanderthals is especially striking and clear providing strong evidence of a bottleneck event.” the results challenge the previously accepted idea that the origin of Neanderthals was associated with a significant loss of genetic diversity prompting the need to propose new explanations for their origin “We were surprised to find that the pre-Neanderthals from the Sima de los Huesos exhibited a level of morphological diversity similar to that of the early Neanderthals from Krapina,” commented Alessandro Urciuoli “This challenges the common assumption of a bottleneck event at the origin of the Neanderthal lineage,” the researcher stated Alessandro Urciuoli is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich (previously employed at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona as a Margarita Salas postdoctoral fellow) and associated researcher at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont; Mercedes Conde-Valverde is lecturer at the Universidad de Alcalá and director of the Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva de HM Hospitales and the Universidad de Alcalá 10.1038/s41467-025-56155-8 Semicircular canals shed light on bottleneck events in the evolution of the Neanderthal clade are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system Copyright © 2025 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Metrics details The Krapina white-tailed eagle talons represent a kind of jewelry worn by Krapina Neandertals some 130,000 years ago New inspection of one Krapina talon (386.1) revealed a fiber adhering to the surface within a wide cut mark as well as concentrated traces of occasional spots of red and yellow pigment and some black stains We analyzed the fiber and small portions of pigmented areas by non-invasive Targeted areas revealed intra- and inter-strand aggregation indicating the fiber to be collagen losing its original triple α-helix conformation further confirming the diagenetic decay of the original collagen structure and the antiquity of the fiber It is possible that the fiber is a remnant of the leather or sinew string binding the talons together Spectroscopic analysis of the pigments in two isolated areas confirmed two types of ochre and that the dark spots are charcoal remnants Applying novel non-invasive technologies provides new possibilities to further test the hypothesis of using prehistoric objects for symbolic purposes polished areas on lateral plantar edges of all the talons and nicks on the medial and lateral edges of some talons are all suggestive they were tied around their proximal margins (a) Shows the location of the fiber and the enlargement is a closeup of the region The white dashed line in the area defined by red rectangle represents the portion of the fiber measured by FTIR and SR FTIR (b) The arrow points to the area with the red and yellow ochre mix (c) The arrow indicates the approximate area of black staining To gain better insight into the nature of the fiber and the pigments it was necessary to use more powerful analytical tools beyond a light microscope To determine the origin and nature of pigments and the fiber It was important to be certain that the surface modifications and the chemical composition of the talon surfaces would not be altered with any analysis We selected the single talon (386.1) containing both the fiber and pigments and investigated a small portion of this talon focusing on the fiber and pigmented areas using different non-invasive methods we first tried to determine the nature of the fiber using the scanning elecronic microscope this was unsuccessful due to the high fluorescence signal obscuring the analysis we turned to synchrotron infrared spectrometry (a) Optical image obtained with a cassegrain 15x objective of the inspected fiber on the talon (b) Infrared false color image obtained by the integration of the amide I and amide II bands of the proteins; the scale goes from blue (minimum) to purple-white (maximum) (c) Average IR spectrum extracted from the IR map: In red the average spectrum of the fiber extracted from the IR image marked as a white dashed line in the panel an average spectrum of the area surrounding the fiber the difference spectrum of the previous two spectra presenting the main features of the fiber alone the blue spectrum has been subtracted from the red one with a scaling factor in order to match the signals in the 1300-1150 cm−1 spectral region aging and signal artifact due to the sampling geometry affected the spectral quality and peak position analyses on the fiber strongly suggest that it is derived from collagen and Peaks comparable with those present in literature for similar samples in both amides and carbohydrate spectral region confirm this hypothesis (a) Optical image obtained with a 4x objective of an area of interest of the talon 386.1 (b) Zoom of the measured area with a 15x Cassegrain objective (c) spectra of the white spot in panel b (red circle - black dot line) and average spectrum of the three red spots in panel b (red circles - red dashed line) the blue line is the spectral difference between red and white areas Arrows point at the three main bands of ochre Application of new non-invasive technological analyses is shown here to be an additional effective tool in confirming Neandertal manipulations of a white-tailed eagle talon Infrared spectrometry confirmed that the analyzed talon preserves traces of a collagen band formed by natural diagenesis in the sandstone rock shelter environment covers the most superficial layer of the talon This silicate layer seals the evidence under it and confirms the antiquity of different traces detected below Within the wide cut mark at the proximal end of the analyzed talon dark-coloured strain was visible under low magnification Infrared spectrometry revealed the fiber to be constituted of animal protein Visible intra- and inter-strand aggregation within the analyzed area of the fiber indicate the fiber is collagen losing its original triple α-helix conformation This is additional confirmation of the antiquity of the animal fiber An eagle origin of the collagen strand is unlikely since the talon appears to have been detached from the rest of the foot bones for some time based on the spatial arrangement and orientation of the cut marks other indications of anthropogenic modifications like nicks on the proximal edges and multiple wear traces along the talon we consider the collagen strand is most likely a remnant of the leather or sinew string binding it together with the other talons The fiber may be some other kind of animal tissue possibly something else related to binding the talons together or another element added to the ornament for additional decoration While it is not unexpected that the talons were bound together in prehistoric times it is unexpected to find preserved remnants of the binding or other elements of the ornament It is also possible the black was intentionally rubbed onto the talon it is not possible to determine if the presence of the black pigment was intentional or accidental identification of red and yellow ochre on the talon clearly indicates human agency Other evidence inspected here by the infrared spectrometry supports our earlier argument that this combination of traces should be interpreted as indicative of symbolic use of the talons by the Neandertals especially the application of two types of ochre and the possible application of black pigment A small remnant of an animal fiber further suggests the talon was bound into an assemblage These non-invasive technologies offer important new ways to test the hypothesis of Neandertals using objects for symbolic purposes All samples used in this study were covered by a silicate coating laid down in prehistory presumably shortly after the talon was lost in the sediments The nature of the sample and the fiber’s geometry imposed several constraints on the measurement approach that could be used to characterize it At first we tried Attenuated total reflection (ATR) in microscopy but the fiber was not flat enough to provide good contact with the germanium tip and therefore it was not possible to obtain any data with this approach it was decided to try transflection geometry shining IR light onto the sample and collecting the reflected although the measured spectra were characterized by artifacts due to dispersion scattering and with a quite low signal to noise ratio All these issues in the sampling and signal quality directly reflected an intrinsic difficulty in the analysis and interpretation of the data Samples were measured at SISSI beamline at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy43 the selected sampling technique was transflection Distinctive areas of talon 386.1 were measured in spectroscopy and mapped either using conventional source or using Synchrotron Radiation (SR) Spectroscopic data were obtained by closing the knife-edge apertures of the Hyperion 3000 microscope (Bruker Optik GmbH) at 50×50 µm and by averaging 512 scans A single point detector MCT (mercury-cadmium-telluride) was used SR mapping was obtained by closing the apertures at 20×20 µm and collecting a spectrum every 10 microns accumulating 1024 scans at 120 kHz scanner speed FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) imaging was carried out using a detector array (Focal Plane Array over an area ~150×150 µm; the image was obtained after averaging 1024 scans at 5 kHz scanner speed All acquired spectra were corrected for water vapor and CO2 contribution using the OPUS routine Several chemical maps were obtained by the integration of signals of proteins This work was entirely supported by internal funds Talon 386.1 and the other seven talons and phalanx are available for study in the Croatian Natural History Museum Der paläolitische Mensch und seine Zeitgnossen aus dem Diluvium von Krapina in Kroatien Pleistocenska ornitofauna Krapine (Hrvatska Der diluviale Mensch von Krapina in Kroatien Ein Beitrag zur Paläoanthropologie Studien über die Entwicklungsmechanik des Primatenskelletes The Krapina hominids: an illustrated catalog of the skeletal collection (Mladost and the Croatian Natural History Museum Sex and size of the Krapina cave bears in Fragments of ice environments Evidence for Neandertal jewelry: modified white-tailed eagle claws at Krapina Presumed symbolic use by diurnal raptors by Neanderthals Birds of a feather: Neanderthal exploitation of raptors and corvids Ecology and subsistence strategies in the Eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic Who brought the bird remains to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Les Fieux (Southwestern Direct evidence of a complex taphonomic story The Châtelperronian Neanderthals of Cova Foradada (Calafell Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes Convergent evidence of eagle talons used by late Neanderthals in Europe: a further assessment on symbolism Systems of personal ornamentation in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: methodological challenges and new observations in Rethinking the human revolution: new behavioural and biological perspectives on the origin and dispersal of modern humans (eds Critical reassessment of putative Acheulean Porosphaera globularis beads New data on bird bone artefacts from Hungary and Romania The last glacial maximum at Meged rockshelter Selection and the use of manganese dioxide by Neanderthals U–Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art modification and use of manganese rich rocks at Le Moustier (Dordogne Vibrational spectroscopy and conformation of peptides and proteins in Advances in protein chemistry (eds Fourier transform infrared analysis of amide III bands of proteins for the secondary structure estimation Study of skin degradation in ancient Egyptian mummies: complementarity of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and histological analysis Fourier transform infrared conformational investigation of type I collagen aged by in vitro induced dehydration and non-enzymatic glycation treatments ATR-FT-IR spectral collection of conservation materials in the extended region of 4000-80 cm–1 Infrared and Raman Users Group Spectral Database (Infrared and Raman Users Group Spectral Database) Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene 82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior An early case of color symbolism: ochre use by modern humans in Qafzeh Cave An ochered fossil marine shell from the Mousterian of Fumane Cave Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals A geode painted with ochre by the Neanderthal man parures: les comportements symboliques controversés des Néandertaliens in Les Néandertaliens: biologie et culture (eds B.) 279–309 (Édition de Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques Gorjanović-Kramberger and Krapina early man the infrared beamline of the ELETTRA storage ring Download references University of Trieste for the RAMAN analysis We acknowledge Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste for providing access to its synchrotron radiation facilities (proposal number 20160075) Université de Bordeaux critically evaluated the manuscript and we appreciate the comments of our reviewers Synchrotron Infrared Source for Spectroscopy and Imaging – SISSI Institute for Quaternary Paleontology and Geology performed the infrared spectromicroscopy analysis and wrote the analysis All authors revised and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62938-4 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences (2024) Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović participated in Zabok today in the international conference “Zagorje 2025: Regional Investment Summit” holder of the European Entrepreneurial Region title for 2025 This international conference brought together leading experts decision-makers and academics to discuss key global trends in competitiveness sustainable development and the significance of Krapina-Zagorje County as a European Entrepreneurial Region for 2025 The prestigious title of European Entrepreneurial Region for 2025 was awarded to Krapina-Zagorje County at the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels in June 2024 This recognition was awarded to Krapina-Zagorje County for implementing ambitious entrepreneurial strategies for the sustainable resilient and digital growth of its local and regional economies and is one of three European regions to have received the award this year’s winners are the Spanish region of Galicia and the Polish province of Mazovia At the conference “Zagorje 2025: Regional investment Summit“ President Milanović followed the discussion and presentations on the topic Global Competitiveness Trends by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb and by Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb There was also a presentation by the Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre of Krapina-Zagorje County highlighting the reasons why the County was declared a European Entrepreneurial Region and a presentation by County-prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County Alongside President Milanović was the Special Adviser to the President for Energy and Climate in the capacity of director of the Regional Energy and Climate Agency of North-western Croatia presented the Green Plan for Zagorje at the conference.  PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas “Today marks the start of a journey toward progress innovation and new access to life-saving medicine for more people “On behalf of our UPMC colleagues,” Bogosta continued “it’s my honor to be with you today as we commemorate the momentous beginning of what will become the first UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Croatia.” At the December 21 groundbreaking ceremony for UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at Zabok General Hospital local and country officials from Croatia and the United States joined with UPMC to mark the construction milestone for the center that’s set to open in 2025 The UPMC Hillman Cancer Center will be located on the campus of Zabok General Hospital within Krapina-Zagorje County approximately 25 miles from the Croatian capital of Zagreb and in close proximity to Slovenia It will provide cutting-edge cancer therapies and personalized medicine for people in Krapina-Zagorje County all of Croatia and its neighboring countries Primorac along with the Health Ministry and key stakeholders to understand and identify how we can partner to address the health care needs of this region “Building on UPMC’s legacy of providing advanced cancer care internationally — with nearly 80 centers in the United States and five centers in Europe, part of UPMC Italy and UPMC Ireland — we are combining decades of cancer care expertise with Professor Primorac’s track record as a successful health care leader and entrepreneur,” said Bogosta UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is internationally renowned for ushering in the most advanced evidence-based treatments and clinical trials not previously available in local communities “We do this by leveraging our many centers of excellence in areas such as immunology, drug discovery and stereotactic radiosurgery,” said Wild. “This is made possible by our academic medical center collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences The new center will bring comprehensive cancer care to the people of Croatia and beyond — with advanced radiation oncology This venture is an example of medical and scientific excellence coming together to develop a new concept of advanced diagnostics and therapies locally within Croatia Metrics details 130,000-year-old claws show tell-tale signs of ornamental decoration Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Radovčić, D., Sršen, A. O., Radovčić, J. & Frayer, D. PLoS ONE http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119802 (2015) Finlayson, C. et al PLoS ONE http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0045927 (2012) Download references Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2015.17095 “It’s really a stunning discovery,” said Dr Frayer, who is the senior author of the paper published in the journal PLoS ONE “It’s one of those things that just appeared out of the blue It’s so unexpected and it’s so startling because there’s just nothing like it until very recent times to find this kind of jewelry.” These white-tailed eagle bones all derive from a single time period at the Krapina site Four talons bear multiple edge-smoothed cut marks and eight show polishing facets or abrasion Three of the largest talons have small notches at roughly the same place along the plantar surface Dr Frayer and his colleagues from the Croatian Natural History Museum and the Institute for Quaternary Paleontology and Geology suggest these features may be part of a jewelry assemblage like mounting the talons in a necklace (or bracelet) Some have argued that Neanderthals lacked symbolic ability or copied this behavior from modern humans, but the presence of the talons indicates that the Krapina Neanderthals may have acquired eagle talons for some kind of symbolic purpose the Neanderthals’ practice of catching eagles very likely involved planning and ceremony,” the scientists wrote in the paper “We cannot know the way they were captured but if collected from carcasses it must have taken keen eyes to locate the dead birds as rare as they were in the prehistoric avifauna.” “We suspect that the collection of talons from at least three different white-tailed eagles mitigates against recovering carcasses in the field but more likely represents evidence for live capture.” “In any case, these talons provide multiple new lines of evidence for Neanderthals’ abilities and cultural sophistication.” are the earliest evidence for jewelry in the European fossil record They demonstrate that the Krapina Neanderthals may have made jewelry 130,000 years ago – about 80,000 years before the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe Evidence for Neandertal Jewelry: Modified White-Tailed Eagle Claws at Krapina PLoS ONE 10 (3): e0119802; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119802 Krapina Neandertals may have manipulated white-tailed eagle talons to make jewelry 130,000 years ago before the appearance of modern human in Europe 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by David Frayer from University of Kansas and colleagues from Croatia Researchers describe eight mostly complete white-tailed eagle talons from the Krapina Neandertal site in present-day Croatia all derive from a single time period at Krapina The authors suggest these features may be part of a jewelry assemblage like mounting the talons in a necklace or bracelet Some have argued that Neandertals lacked symbolic ability or copied this behavior from modern humans but the presence of the talons indicates that the Krapina Neandertals may have acquired eagle talons for some kind of symbolic purpose They also demonstrate that the Krapina Neandertals may have made jewelry 80,000 years before the appearance of modern humans in Europe It's one of those things that just appeared out of the blue It's so unexpected and it's so startling because there's just nothing like it until very recent times to find this kind of jewelry," David Frayer said In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118470 Frayer DW (2015) Evidence for Neandertal Jewelry: Modified White-Tailed Eagle Claws at Krapina Funding: The authors have no funding or support to report Archaeologist SuggestsOut-of-place stone in sandstone Neanderthal cave in Croatia wasn't a tool and had no business being there: Neanderthals had sense of aesthetic 2017Get email notification for articles from Ruth Schuster FollowJan 17 2017A rock possibly collected by a Neanderthal because it was pretty is being touted as the latest evidence that the extinct species had a sense of aesthetic the archaeologists found a brownish piece of split limestone with darker veins in Krapina that stood out from everything else in the cave They concluded that apparently a Neanderthal collected the thing 130,000 years ago "It is an interesting rock," says David Frayer a professor emeritus of anthropology who was part of the study four inches high and about a half-inch thick was bereft of striking platforms or other areas of preparation on the rock's edge it meant that it was brought there for a purpose other than being used as a tool," Frayer says – and believes it adds to other evidence that Neanderthals were capable of incorporating symbolic objects into their culture irrespective of whatever mixing may or may not have taken place with Homo sapiens Now it seems the ornamented Neanderthals had other aesthetic predilections as well Open gallery viewClamshell view of Side A and B showing black dendrites against the background of the brown mudstone found in the Neanderthal site of Krapina University of KansasRock-hound of another species Actually the unusual rock had been found at the Krapina Neanderthal site in Croatia more than 100 years ago that it was deliberately collected were published in Comptes Rendus Palevol as lead author and Frayer as corresponding author Other evidence that Neanderthals had aesthetic sensibilities include collections of shells found in Iberia some of which had been perforated and painted It bears noting that the Iberian site is younger so the split limestone rock stuck out as not originating from the cave None of the more than 1,000 lithic items collected from Krapina resemble the rock Open gallery viewMicroscopic image of limonite stains on the limestone rock found in the Neanderthal site of Krapina University of KansasA small triangular flake was found that fits with the rock It probably happened after the specimen was deposited into the sediments of the Krapina site The look of the rock also caught the researchers' eye as many inclusions or black lines on it stood out from the brown limestone Perhaps that is what made the Neanderthal want to collect it in the first place The stone for quite a lot of tools made by primitive men seem to have been chosen based on color Open gallery viewA microscopic view of some dendritic forms on the limestone rock found in the Neanderthal site of Krapina University of KansasThey suspect a Neanderthal took the rock from a site a few kilometers north of Krapina where such biopelmicritic grey limestone exists "It adds to the number of other recent studies about Neanderthals doing things that are thought to be unique to modern Homo sapiens," Frayer said "We contend they had a curiosity and symbolic-like capacities typical of modern humans." The first definitive case of a fibrous dysplastic neoplasm in a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal rib from the site of Krapina in present-day Croatia reveals that Neanderthals suffered a cancer that is common in modern-day humans say scientists led by Dr David Frayer from the University of Kansas Reconstruction of a Neanderthal (Neanderthal Museum) The discovery of the world’s oldest tumor, reported in the open-access journal PLoS ONE predates previous evidence by well over 100,000 years The cancerous rib from Krapina is an incomplete specimen and thus the researchers were unable to comment on the overall health effects the tumor may have had on this individual the earliest known bone cancers occurred in samples about 1,000 – 4,000 years old “Fibrous dysplasia in modern-day humans occurs more frequently than other bone tumors But evidence for cancer is extremely rare in the human fossil record,” explained Dr Frayer were susceptible to the same kind of cancer as living humans.” Neanderthals had average life spans that were likely to be half those of modern humans in developed countries and were exposed to different environmental factors cases of neoplastic disease are rare in prehistoric human populations.” the identification of a more than 120,000-year-old Neanderthal rib with a bone tumor is surprising and provides insights into the nature and history of the association of humans to neoplastic disease.” Fibrous Dysplasia in a 120,000+ Year Old Neandertal from Krapina PLoS ONE 8 (6): e64539; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064539 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Total Croatia News Krapinsko Zagorska Country or Zagorje as the locals call it is a fairytale land wedged between Zagreb and Slovenia with Medvednica Moutain bordering it on the south and the Ivanscica Mountain to the north Zagorje is a home to the Neanderthals that lived near Krapina Zagorje has some beautiful wines and navigating the rolling hills visiting its wineries is a wonderful experience with many breathtaking views Zagorje has had a long relationship with wine and some would say that wine runs through the veins of the people of Zagorje Roads wind through the hills covered in vineyards where you’ll notice the odd wooden cottage (kleti) selling wine Don’t be afraid to pull over and say hello and try some wine There are some outstanding wines being produced in Zagorje with the predominant varieties being traminer They are also producing some excellent predicate wines including ice wine When it comes to wine history in Zagorje some interesting discoveries have been made for example in Radoboj a vine leaf fossil which was grown in all wine regions of Europe in the middle ages had become somewhat of a forgotten variety was found in a vineyard near Krapina It would have remained forgotten if scientists had not discovered that in fact this grape variety was the mother of chardonnay furmint and as many as 60 varieties of grape It’s the Zinfandel story all over again If it’s wineries you’d like to visit the one of the best to visit for a tasting and some lunch is Bolfan Vinski Vrh This winery is perched on top of a hill with panoramic views out over its vineyards they also produce some excellent wines which include riesling The added bonus with this winery is the excellent onsite restaurant which is housed in a log cottage The restaurant serves traditional food cooked magnificently Another absolute must visit winery is Vuglec Breg who produce and exceptionally good sparkling wine This is another winery where you’ll need to bring you camera along so you can capture the picturesque landscape A tasting of their 5 sparkling wines is a must and you can also take a tour of their cellar to see how they produce the sparkling wine They also have an onsite restaurant serving typical Zagorje cuisine – try the roasted goose or duck which is to die for Zagorje’s premium predicate wine producer is Bodren wines who has won numerous awards at the Decanter World Wine awards for his icewines in various grape varieties The winemaker has really nailed his niche and leads the way in Croatia for predicate wines The winery is open for tastings so you cane try them for yourself For full screen preview click here Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. they weren’t exceptionally prone to head injuries and certainly no more so than early humans A Neanderthal skull on display at Krapina, Croatia. (Nikola Solic / Reuters)November 14, 2018 ShareSave The very first Neanderthal to be described in the scientific literature had an old elbow injury—a fracture that had since healed Such injuries turned out to be incredibly common Almost every reasonably complete Neanderthal skeleton that was found during the subsequent century had at least one sign of physical trauma Some researchers attributed these lesions to fights scientists collectively inferred that Neanderthals must have lived short around 30 percent had signs of cranial trauma—a far higher proportion than in either prehistoric hunter-gatherers or 20th century humans Only one group showed a similar pattern of fractures—rodeo riders Read: Neanderthals suffered a lot of traumatic injuries. So how did they live so long? “This is not meant to imply that Neanderthals would have met the behavioral qualifications for membership in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,” wrote Berger and Trinkaus it suggests that they hunted large beasts like mammoths using spears that were more suitable for thrusting than throwing “Given the tendency of ungulates to react strongly to being impaled the frequency of head and neck injuries… in the Neanderthals should not be surprising,” the duo wrote should be “further qualified if not simply retracted.” (Trinkaus declined to be interviewed for this story.) “The [high frequency of] head trauma has been used to argue that they were more violent with each other or hunted in a more particular way,” says Harvati “We’ve taken away one piece of evidence for that It’s important to re-examine our assumptions about their behaviors.” Other studies had come to similar conclusions, but none have looked at such a large number of skeletons, says Rebecca Wragg Sykes an archeologist from the University of Bordeaux who studies Neanderthals “It really [helps] to push back against the stubborn image of Neanderthals as having massively battered bodies,” she says That image persisted partly because “it seemed to be a believable reason why we were supposedly more successful [adds to] the growing view that there were many similarities in behavior between the two species.” By combing through previous studies, Harvati’s colleague Judith Beier compared the skulls of 114 Neanderthals and 90 modern humans all of whom lived in Europe and Asia between 20,000 and 80,000 years ago (The term “modern human” here refers to Homo sapiens rather than present-day people.) She estimated that between 4 and 33 percent of Neanderthals would have had some kind of head injury compared with 2 to 34 percent of contemporaneous modern humans Read: Ancient DNA is rewriting human (and Neanderthal) history These ranges are large because Beier tried to account for how whether the fossils were found and other factors that could influence the odds of detecting old injuries at all (“You can’t just look at the raw frequencies,” she says.) But it’s clear that earlier estimates of head injuries among 30 to 40 percent of Neanderthals represent the very extreme of what Beier thinks was likely It’s also clear that Neanderthals and modern humans were equally likely to severely bonk their heads males were more likely to have head injuries than females—a pattern that still exists among today’s humans the team also found that Neanderthals were more likely to accrue head trauma before the age of 30 while modern humans experienced such injuries more evenly throughout their lives “We struggled with it a lot,” says Harvati is that Neanderthal youths were just more likely to get knocked in the head than similarly aged modern humans It’s also possible that modern humans were better at taking care of head injuries while Neanderthals were more likely to die early from the lingering effects of their wounds And Wragg Sykes adds that the pattern might reflect differences in how the two groups treated their dead which in turn would affect how likely we are to find their injured remains “As our samples grow and our research methods become more sophisticated, the gap between them and us is shrinking,” Wragg Sykes said. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Apparent evidence of attempts to use toothpick to deal with impacted tooth and misalignment of another one adds to impression Neanderthals were significantly more intelligent than previously thought I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A Neanderthal who lived 130,000 years ago appears to have carried out some “prehistoric dentistry” in an attempt to deal with an impacted tooth at the start of the last century were re-examined by scientists and found to have a number of grooves While it is possible there is another explanation said they appeared to be evidence of attempts to use a toothpick to deal with the impacted tooth and the misalignment of another one this would add to the growing body of evidence that Neanderthals were significantly more intelligent than previously believed Recent research found evidence that suggested they used natural forms of penicillin and aspirin as medicine. The Krapina Neanderthals have previously been found to have created jewellery out of eagle talons, in another sign that they were more sophisticated than generally given credit for. Professor David Frayer, of Kansas University, said the marks on the teeth suggested the individual was in some pain and was trying to do something about it. “As a package, this fits together as a dental problem that the Neanderthal was having and was trying to presumably treat itself, with the toothpick grooves, the breaks and also with the scratches on the premolar,” he said. “It was an interesting connection or collection of phenomena that fit together in a way that we would expect a modern human to do. “Everybody has had dental pain, and they know what it’s like to have a problem with an impacted tooth. “The scratches indicate this individual was pushing something into his or her mouth to get at that twisted premolar. "It's maybe not surprising that a Neanderthal did this, but as far as I know, there's no specimen that combines all of this together into a pattern that would indicate he or she was trying to presumably self-treat this eruption problem.” It is thought the marks could have been made by bones or stiff grass stems. The researchers said it was unclear whether the Neanderthal was doing something unusual or if such attempts at dentistry were widespread. There is evidence that dentistry was ‘invented’ much, much earlier in human history. The oldest toothpick grooves discovered so far date from an earlier human species, Homo habilis, some 1.8 million years ago. The research was described in a paper in the Bulletin of the International Association for Paleodontology. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies believe scientists","description":"Apparent evidence of attempts to use toothpick to deal with impacted tooth and misalignment of another one adds to impression Neanderthals were significantly more intelligent than previously thought Home › Historical News By StudyFinds Three views of the four teeth recovered from the Neanderthal Krapina site in Croatia examined the teeth and found evidence of scratches and toothpick grooves on the three molars and one premolar tooth from the bottom left side of the Neanderthal’s mouth Because two of the teeth are pushed out of their normal positions the researchers found the grooves indicate an effort by the Neanderthal to manipulate his or her teeth to relieve the pain — Even cave men and women cared about oral hygiene A new study of teeth from Neanderthals shows that our earliest ancestors practiced a primitive form of dentistry using a toothpick-like tool to help alleviate a toothache Researchers at the University of Kansas analyzed four teeth from a Neanderthal that lived 130,000 years ago The teeth and other fossils were discovered in Croatia sometime between 1899 and 1905 the research team identified toothpick grooves on the side of the teeth as well as other signs of tools that the Neanderthals likely used to deal with irritation in the mouth “As a package, this fits together as a dental problem that the Neanderthal was having and was trying to presumably treat itself, with the toothpick grooves, the breaks and also with the scratches on the premolar,” says David Frayer, professor emeritus of anthropology, in a university news release “It was an interesting connection or collection of phenomena that fit together in a way that we would expect a modern human to do and they know what it’s like to have a problem with an impacted tooth.” Though the Neanderthal’s jaw was not located to test for signs of periodontal disease indicate that it was dealing with discomfort for some time It’s not known what Neanderthals used to act as a toothpick back then but the researchers believe a piece of bone or even a blade of grass may have been the tool of choice “It fits into a pattern of a Neanderthal being able to modify its personal environment by using tools,” says Frayer whether they are made by bones or grass stems or who knows what they show us that Neanderthals were doing something inside their mouths to treat the dental irritation The study was published in the Bulletin of the International Association for Paleontology transparent research summaries that are intended to inform the reader as well as stir civil educated debate. We do not agree nor disagree with any of the studies we post we encourage our readers to debate the veracity of the findings themselves. All articles published on StudyFinds are vetted by our editors prior to publication and include links back to the source or corresponding journal article This is more or less why Neanderthals are extinct Modern man evolved from Blacks by hybridizing with literally another species (Neanderthals) Blacks are the only race with no DNA from the large-brain Neanderthals and less developed brains relative to modern man I always thought the Dutch were kind of backwards ©2025 Study Finds. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy • Disclosure Policy • Do Not Sell My Personal Information A comparison of Neanderthal anatomy to modern human anatomy X-rays reveal a rib afflicted with fibrous dysplasia A benign bone tumor that afflicts modern-day humans has now been found in one of our ancestors: a Neanderthal more than 120,000 years old The discovery of a fibrous dysplasia in a Neanderthal rib is the earliest known bone tumor on record predating other tumors by more than 100,000 years indicates that Neanderthals were susceptible to the same types of tumors modern-day humans get despite living in a remarkably different environment "They were probably inhaling a lot of smoke from the caves So the air was not completely free of pollutants—but certainly these Neanderthals weren't smoking cigarettes." The tumor's journey from inside a bone over 120,000 years old to the pages of the journal PLOS ONE was a long one when a paleontologist named Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger was digging by a cave near the Croatian village of Krapina Gorjanovic-Kramberger and colleagues began an excavation at the site They soon realized they had stumbled upon the world's largest collection of Neanderthal artifacts and almost 900 fossilized Neanderthal remains dating back more than 120,000 years Gorjanovic-Kramberger described the bones: "It is perfectly logical to assume that these Neanderthal men had to be healthy and less prone to illnesses we have today Accidents were therefore far more common in their struggle to survive and caused injury or even mutilation to the body." But the Neanderthals also suffered from illness: conditions like severe arthritis whose tell-tale signs have remained on the bones for more than 100,000 years "There's lots of evidence of blunt-force trauma where these Neanderthals were hit in the head," says Janet Monge, the paper's lead author and a physical anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania. "There's also evidence of an amputated forearm and arthritis. But this is the earliest evidence of a tumor." Monge, who has been working with the Krapina bones for decades, was one of the first physical anthropologists to study x-rays of the bone collection. At first, she looked at plain films taken by Penn radiologist Morrie Kricun in the 1980s. But because the bones were so old, it was hard to see internal structures inside the bones themselves. "They were really great radiographs, in terms of the way people go about diagnosing things, but we were getting basically black images of the bones," says Monge. "All of the internal structure of the bone was missing. And we thought there was a tumor there, but you don't want to say it's a possibility; you want to say it definitively." So Monge and Kricun decided to try again, this time using a micro-CT scan machine, which slices an image into individually distinct cross-sections. In this case, the Neanderthal rib—which was about 30 mm (1.18 inches) long—was sliced into almost 500 distinct frames, which gave anthropologists and radiologists the ability to look at the bone piece by piece. "We were able to refine all of the small detail going micron by micron," says Monge. "It also gave us the ability to remodel missing areas of the bone." What the bone showed was that at least one Neanderthal suffered from a fibrous dysplasia, a benign tumor characterized by areas of abnormal growth in one or several bones. "Most cancers affect people when they get older," says Frayer. "And most Neanderthals and earlier populations died before they got old. So this was really exciting to see." the paper's lead author and a physical anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania \"There's also evidence of an amputated forearm and arthritis But this is the earliest evidence of a tumor.\""},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html10","cntnt":{"mrkup":"Monge who has been working with the Krapina bones for decades was one of the first physical anthropologists to study x-rays of the bone collection she looked at plain films taken by Penn radiologist Morrie Kricun in the 1980s it was hard to see internal structures inside the bones themselves."},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html11","cntnt":{"mrkup":"\"They were really great radiographs in terms of the way people go about diagnosing things but we were getting basically black images of the bones,\" says Monge \"All of the internal structure of the bone was missing but you don't want to say it's a possibility; you want to say it definitively.\""},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html12","cntnt":{"mrkup":"So Monge and Kricun decided to try again which slices an image into individually distinct cross-sections the Neanderthal rib—which was about 30 mm (1.18 inches) long—was sliced into almost 500 distinct frames which gave anthropologists and radiologists the ability to look at the bone piece by piece."},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html13","cntnt":{"mrkup":"\"We were able to refine all of the small detail going micron by micron,\" says Monge \"It also gave us the ability to remodel missing areas of the bone.\""},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html14","cntnt":{"mrkup":"What the bone showed was that at least one Neanderthal suffered from a fibrous dysplasia a benign tumor characterized by areas of abnormal growth in one or several bones."},"type":"p","style":{}},{"id":"html15","cntnt":{"mrkup":"\"Most cancers affect people when they get older,\" says Frayer \"And most Neanderthals and earlier populations died before they got old               The appropriate application form can be downloaded below (Croatian only): Applications shall be submitted to the Ministry of Physical Planning Forensic science and computer simulations are just a couple of the high-tech tools used to explain one branch of the evolutionary tree at a new museum in Croatia The Neanderthal Museum opened last week and was built on the site where scientists have found the greatest concentration in Europe of Neanderthal remains tools and other effects of an extinct offshoot of mankind who inhabited parts of Asia and Europe until 30,000 years ago The museum’s concept — which sums up evolution in a 24-hour period displayed on a winding track along the museum’s two floors — highlights the late starting time of 23:52 for the first appearance of any of mankind’s relations The museum displays many of the bones and artefacts found at the site “At that time scientists were looking for the missing link and the Neanderthals were portrayed as hairy dull-looking savages who couldn’t walk upright,” said paleoanthropologist Jakov Radovcic But the museum’s painstakingly recreated life-size Neanderthal figures tell a different story “Today we look at the Neanderthals as humans we have found indications of burying rituals and established that they had the speech gene just like ours,” Radovcic said Findings throughout Europe show that the Neanderthals painted pictures probably engaged in some sort of tribal dancing or music “Even if they were not our direct ancestors they were very close relatives to our ancestors which again makes them our ancestors,” Radovcic said He said scientists were still particularly intrigued by the period when Neanderthals lived side by side with modern humans before their final extinction that there had been exchange of genetic material Some recent findings from Portugal also prove that the contact of the two populations was possible,” he said Visitors can touch parts of a digital Neanderthal body to get a medical explanation of their diseases and ailments — most of them very similar to our own like knee and shoulder problems at a later age The central scene — a big Neanderthal family gathered in a cave around the fire — is particularly impressive because of the accompanying acrid smells of sweat and burning meat and sounds meant to recreate those typical of the Stone Age The events that promote the Kajkavian dialect and heritage are organised by the authorities of Krapina and Krapina-Zagorje County and Mayor Zoran Gregurović said at a news conference on Wednesday that the Week of the Kajkavian Culture “is the most significant event in the Kajkavian-speaking area.” The climax of the Week of the Kajkavian Culture is a three-day festival of songs in the local dialect For more on lifestyle, follow TCN’s dedicated page. For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE. and website in this browser for the next time I comment An exhibit shows the life of a neanderthal family in a cave in the new Neanderthal Museum in the northern town of Krapina February 25 with exhibitions depicting the evolution from ‘Big Bang’ to present day You must be logged in to post a comment.