Science Visualized Anthropology

Finds in a Spanish cave inspire an artistic take on warm-weather Neandertals

Paleoartist Gabriela Amorós Seller draws on recent findings to depict ancient Iberian life

painting of a Neandertal man and child on the Iberian plains

A Neandertal man and child lounge among ancient Iberian plants and animals near Bolomor Cave (about halfway up the hill on the left) in this painting depicting life in eastern Spain around a couple hundred thousand years ago.

G. Amorós, Quat. Sci. Reviews, 2021

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Here’s a scene guaranteed to melt the popular stereotype of Ice Age Neandertals as spear-wielding mammoth hunters confined to Eurasia’s frigid inner core.