New Research

Turtles May Have Been Tasty Snacks for Neanderthals 125,000 Years Ago. But Their Shells Were Probably the Real Prize

New research based on fragments discovered at the Neumark-Nord site in Germany suggests Neanderthals may have transformed the shells into tools

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

April 15, 2026

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While living in central Europe roughly 125,000 years ago, Neanderthals regularly hunted European pond turtles. But they probably didn’t kill the small reptiles to eat them. Instead, a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests they likely targeted the creatures for their shells, which they transformed into useful tools.

Past research suggested that Neanderthals hunted and processed turtles farther south, in the Mediterranean region. But, so far, this is the first such discovery north of the Alps.

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, archaeologists unearthed a trove of animal remains at a former lignite open-cast mine in central Germany. The site, known as Neumark-Nord, produced thousands of bones from creatures like straight-tusked elephants, as well as foxes, horses, big cats and an extinct species of rhinoceros.

Based on these and other discoveries, researchers determined Neanderthals inhabited the site for more than 2,000 years. While there, they butchered and ate elephants and developed a sophisticated “fat factory” for extracting the high-calorie grease contained within animal bones.

Recently, scientists revisited 92 European pond turtle shell fragments unearthed from the site. When they took a closer look, they discovered many had cut marks on their inner surfaces, suggesting Neanderthals had carefully scraped out the flesh and inner organs.

European pond turtles are relatively easy to catch. Neanderthal children may have hunted them. But the creatures—whose descendants are still alive today—weigh a little more than two pounds on average, and their macro-nutritional value paled in comparison to that of some of the other large, meaty animals found at the site. Archaeologists have also discovered numerous edible plants at Neumark-Nord—including charred hazelnuts, acorns and sloe plums—which adds to the theory that the Neanderthals probably had plenty to eat.

“There was in all likelihood a complete caloric surplus,” says lead author Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, an archaeologist at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz and the Monrepos Archaeological Research Center, in a statement.

Even if Neanderthals may have enjoyed the taste of turtle meat or used the animals for a medicinal purpose, the creatures probably didn’t make up a large share of their diets. Researchers came to a similar conclusion in 2017 after discovering evidence that Neanderthals cooked freshwater turtles in Israel.

“The main thing they did at the site was hunt and butcher” aurochs, an ancestor of modern cattle, archaeologist Gonen Sharon told Haaretz’s Ruth Schuster at the time. Perhaps, he joked, “the turtles were for the sauce.”

Based on cut marks, archaeologists theorize Neanderthals used turtle shells as small containers or scoops. This idea is bolstered by the fact that researchers found two of the cleaned shells near the area where Neanderthals likely rendered grease.

Neanderthals, which are Homo sapiens’ closest known relatives, created and used a wide variety of tools before they disappeared around 40,000 years ago. Archaeologists have unearthed Neanderthal hand axes, stone tools with sticky grips, wooden spears and, possibly, a hammer made from an elephant bone fragment, among other implements.

Beyond tool use, Neanderthals were also “remarkably resourceful” in other ways, as Jacopo Pasotti wrote for National Geographic in 2023. They “wore clothing and engaged in some symbolic behaviors, possibly even burying their dead,” he added. Archaeologists suspect they took care of their sick and injured peers, intentionally started fires and created a multipurpose resin by heating up bark from birch trees.

Regardless of what motivated them to hunt turtles, the evidence suggests Neanderthals exploited a wide range of animals, from tiny reptiles to massive, hulking elephants and many creatures in between.

The findings “offer a compelling illustration of the breadth of Neanderthal prey selection within a … brief time span and a geographically confined lakeside setting—one in which Neanderthal presence left a discernible impact on the local environment,” the researchers write in the paper.

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.