rationalskepticism.org

Spearthrower wrote:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119302069

Highlights

• The Golden Eagle was the most frequently caught raptor by Neanderthals.
• Golden Eagles were caught for their feathers and talons.
• Golden Eagles were probably ambushed by Neanderthals at carcases.
• The tradition of catching raptors dates to at least 130kya.
• Neanderthals are the first humans known to practice eagle-catching.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/04 ... -years-ago

Although rock dove and raven remains were the most numerous birds, the remains of golden eagles were also present at 26 sites. Cut marks along the wing bones—where golden eagles have little meat—suggest Neanderthals carefully extracted the feathers, the researchers report in Quaternary Science Reviews. Additional cuts to the birds’ leg and foot bones suggest their claws and talons were also delicately separated from the rest of their bodies.

No golden eagle Neanderthal jewelry has been discovered, but anthropologists in 2015 reported finding talons from another eagle—the white-tailed eagle—adorning a Neanderthal necklace. Because Neanderthals were apparently catching and fashioning jewelry from large raptors in Eurasia thousands of years before modern humans migrated up into the continent from Africa...