Neandertals’ diet put meat in their bones

A pair of Neandertal meat eaters emerged from this Croatian cave. Smith/Northern Illinois University

Neandertals’ bones preserve a story of their consuming passion for flesh. Telltale chemicals in two fossils now portray Neandertals as avid meat eaters who hunted often and skillfully.

Neandertals lived in Europe and the Middle East from about 130,000 to 28,000 years ago.