Marrow

July 08, 2025

My MSN browser scroll reported on a new study that shows evidence of Neanderthal “fat factories” dating back as far as 125,000 years ago.  The inhabitants of the settlement strategically selected the lakeside location for the factory and harvested bone marrow by breaking open the bones as well as through a process of crushing and heating.  The fat factory suggests Neanderthals were able to understand their environment and plan for hunting and resource-gathering.  The recent research from Leiden University and published in the journal Science Advances adds to decades of previous research at the Neumark-Nord archaeological site near Leipzig, Germany.  According to a press release from Leiden University, there is also evidence of plant use in the area, though it’s rarely preserved.  Additionally, previous studies found proof that inhabitants used fire to manage vegetation.  Needless to say, Neanderthals have long been underestimated, and the new study does nothing to dissuade that notion.  This fat factory was created to extract marrow from bones.

When I went online, I found bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (cancellous) portions of bones.  In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (haematopoiesis).  Marrow is composed of hematopoietic cells, marrow adipose tissue, and supportive stromal cells.  In adult humans, bone marrow is primarily located in the ribs, vertebrae, sternum, and bones of the pelvis.  Bone marrow comprises approximately 5% of total body mass in healthy adult humans.  A person weighing 161 pounds (73 kg) will have around 8 pounds (3.7 kg) of bone marrow.  Human marrow produces approximately 500 billion blood cells per day, which join the systemic circulation via permeable vasculature sinusoids within the medullary cavity.  All types of hematopoietic cells, including both myeloid and lymphoid lineages, are created in bone marrow.  However, lymphoid cells must migrate to other lymphoid organs (like the thymus) to complete maturation.

Archeologists found the Neanderthals intentionally selected the lakeside location to process the bones of at least 172 mammals including deer (genus, Cervus), horses (Equus ferus caballus), and aurochs (Bos primigenius), an extinct species of bovine.  Inhabitants at the site broke open large mammal bones to extract the marrow and ground the bones into fragments and heated them in water to extract calorie-rich bone grease.  This indicates estimates of advanced resource collection began thousands of years earlier than previously thought.  Lutz Kindler, the study’s first author, said, “Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with precision.  They understood both the nutritional value of fat and how to access it efficiently.”  Experts believe Neanderthals understood there was a “fat quota” they had to meet to make the process worthwhile.  The authors emphasized the number of herbivores that Neanderthals at Neumark-Nord must have been hunting and were likely able to plan and use their environment effectively.  Research into marrow extraction at the Neumark-Nord site complex was possible because this was not a single site but an entire landscape and provided the opportunity to investigate how Neanderthals influenced their environment. 

THOUGHTS: The Neanderthals who created the marrow extraction factory at Neumark-Nord present a far different picture than the often-depicted primitive, club-wielding, nonsocial individual driven solely by animal instinct.  Modern humans tend to seek ways to differentiate ourselves from our homo sapiens ancestors as well as extant animals.  The more research done indicates we are often more alike than different.  All creation should be respected for both its similarity and difference.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.