2024-11-15T11:27:05-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149947988/were-neanderthals-the-first-architects Alexander Walter 2016-05-27T15:51:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/79/790efa2561d3a2d661f8b94c16582b71?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>[...] the stalagmite rings were older than any known cave painting. It also meant that they couldn&rsquo;t have been the work of Homo sapiens. Their builders must have been the only early humans in the south of France at the time: Neanderthals. The discovery suggested that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than anyone had given them credit for. They wielded fire, ventured deep underground, and shaped the subterranean rock into complex constructions.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Related stories in the Archinect news:</p><ul><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/145283017/the-age-of-the-anthropocene-a-change-as-big-as-the-end-of-the-last-ice-age" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Age of the Anthropocene: a change as big as "the end of the last ice age"</a></li><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/107671475/a-man-renovating-his-home-discovered-a-tunnel-to-a-massive-underground-city" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Man Renovating His Home Discovered A Tunnel... To A Massive Underground City</a></li><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/126775719/massive-tomb-complex-unearthed-in-beijing-suburb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Massive tomb complex unearthed in Beijing suburb</a></li></ul>