Neanderthal wooden tools found preserved in stone in Spain

Archaeologists in Spain have identified wooden tools believed to have been made by Neanderthals, preserved in an unusual way: encased in stone after dissolved minerals precipitated around them.

Wood rarely survives long enough to be studied directly, since organic material normally decays within a relatively short span of time unless conditions are exceptional. In this case, researchers say minerals that had dissolved in the surrounding environment gradually built up around the tools, effectively entombing them in rock before the wood itself had fully decayed.

That process appears to have created a protective shell that kept the artifacts intact far longer than wood normally survives in the archaeological record, giving researchers a rare physical link to the tool-making practices of Neanderthal populations in the region.

Wooden tools are especially valuable to archaeologists because they can reveal details about craftsmanship and daily use that stone tools, which dominate the Neanderthal archaeological record due to their durability, cannot fully capture on their own.

Further analysis of the preserved tools is expected to help researchers better understand how Neanderthals in Spain worked with organic materials, adding to a body of evidence that has increasingly highlighted the sophistication of Neanderthal technology.