In 2016, archaeologists dated two rings of snapped stalagmites in France’s Bruniquel Cave to 176,500 years ago, evidence that Neanderthals had walked 336 metres into darkness with fire and built architecture deep underground long before modern humans reached Europe (opens in new tab)

Bruniquel Cave preserves two low rings of broken stalagmites 336 metres from the entrance, in a chamber so far beyond daylight that the Neanderthals who built them had to carry fire deep into the dark. The structures were dated in 2016 to about 176,500 years ago, with a margin of roughly 2,100 years, making them […]