Dec 03, 2013 11:46 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Neanderthals were not so different from modern humanity, as new research suggests they organized their living spaces in a way that people today would.

The research, reported in a press release, suggested the Neanderthals used different parts of their homes for crafting tools, butchering animals and gathering communally around a fire. I.e.: a workroom, a kitchen and a living room.

"There has been this idea that Neanderthals did not have an organized use of space, something that has always been attributed to humans," said study lead author Julien Riel-Salvatore, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). "But we found that Neanderthals did not just throw their stuff everywhere but in fact were organized and purposeful when it came to domestic space."

The researchers' study is published in the Canadian Journal of Archeology.

The study is based on findings at a site in northwest Italy, called Riparo Bombrini. The site is believed to have sheltered both Neanderthals and early humans, giving the researchers insight as to how the two may have overlapped.

The researchers found three levels of the living space that belonged to the Neanderthals. The top level had a high concentration of animal remains, leading the researchers to believe it was devoted to animal butchering. The second level had the most evidence of human occupation and also had a hearth that was likely used to warm the living space. The bottom level had the most traces of stone artifacts, meaning the room was likely a workshop of sorts used to produce tools.

"When you make stone tools there is a lot of debris that you don't want in high traffic areas or you risk injuring yourself," Riel-Salvatore said. "There are clearly fewer stone artifacts in the back of the shelter near the hearth."

His study is an ongoing investigation into how Neanderthals resembled early and modern civilization. His previous work demonstrates how they were more advanced than originally believed and were responsible for more innovations than what they were given credit for.

"This is ongoing work, but the big picture in this study is that we have one more example that Neanderthals used some kind of logic for organizing their living sites," Riel-Salvatore said. "This is still more evidence that they were more sophisticated than many have given them credit for. If we are going to identify modern human behavior on the basis of organized spatial patterns, then you have to extend it to Neanderthals as well."

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