Image Credit: Scientific Reports (2025)

Archaic Humans Hunted Selectively

A new study suggests that archaic humans living in the Levant around 120,000 years ago — including Neanderthals and Homo erectus–like populations — were selective, strategic hunters, not mass killers of large herds. This behavior may have disadvantaged them when they later shared the region with Homo sapiens, who appear to have developed more coordinated large-scale hunting methods.
Published in Scientific Reports, the research draws on evidence from the Nesher Ramla karst depression, a Middle Paleolithic site where archaic and modern humans likely overlapped. Excavations revealed the remains of aurochs, the wild ancestors of modern cattle, showing clear signs of targeted hunting and butchering.
Bone analysis indicates that these ancient humans repeatedly hunted prime-aged female aurochs, choosing specific animals rather than engaging in mass slaughters. The remains also show that the kills occurred in small, isolated events, likely during the dry season when herds were weakened and feeding on woody plants.
The findings offer insight into how archaic societies may have been structured. Mass hunting requires large, well-coordinated groups capable of communication, organization and food sharing — traits widely associated with Homo sapiens. By contrast, the hunting patterns at Nesher Ramla support the idea that archaic humans lived in small, dispersed communities with limited interaction.
Researchers examined tooth microwear and isotopic signatures to determine when and where the animals lived before death. The results show that the aurochs came from different herds and landscapes, ruling out the possibility of a single large-scale hunting event.
While Middle Paleolithic mass-hunting cannot be completely ruled out elsewhere in the Levant, the evidence at Nesher Ramla strengthens the view that archaic human groups were less connected and less cooperative than the expanding populations of modern humans who eventually replaced them.

Published on: 04-12-2025

Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie

Source: Phys.org