Neanderthals are more familiar than we thought!

Hunter, gatherer, vegetarian master chef? These old timers may be far more contemporary than we think!

By Pallab Ghosh, Science correspondent, BBC News

Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals. Researchers have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.

The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought. The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. This perceived reliance on meat had been put forward by some as one of the reasons these humans become extinct as large animals such as mammoths declined due to an Ice Age.

But a new analysis of Neanderthal remains from across the world has found direct evidence that contradicts the chemical studies.

Researchers found fossilised rice, sprouts, yogurt, tofu, fruits, organic eggs and vegetable material in their teeth!

This, along with their long hair, tendency to live in communes, and casual sexual practices with humans made them the first hippies!