Because it is often assumed that fundamental behavioral differences distinguish Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, the ability to structure space within the sites they occupied into distinct activity areas is often invoked as a key distinctive trait of our species. However, this behavior has never been assessed for both groups at a single site, hindering direct comparisons to date. To help resolve this question, this study uses a single methodology to evaluate the spatial organization in the Protoaurignacian levels (A1-A2, associated with Homo sapiens) and the latest Mousterian levels (MS1-MS2, associated with Neanderthals) at Riparo Bombrini (Liguria, Italy) to assess the changes over these three stratigraphic units vis a vis other information about site use. Combining GIS and quantitative methods allows the study of the spatial distribution of plotted finds and features in these levels, showing that Neandertals and Homo sapiens organized their living spaces in accordance with the duration of occupation, the occupation intensity, the tool assemblage and the faunal exploitation. Our results indicate that there is a logic behind the distribution of plotted finds and the use of the space, suggesting comparable cognitive capacities for both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This contributes further data that undermines the notion of ‘behavioral modernity’ as a useful heuristic in human origins research.

因为人们通常认为尼安德特人和智人的根本行为差异是不同的，所以将他们所占据的地点内的空间构造成不同活动区域的能力通常被认为是我们物种的一个关键独特特征。然而，从未在同一地点对这两个群体的这种行为进行过评估，迄今为止阻碍了直接比较。为了帮助解决这个问题，本研究使用单一方法来评估里帕罗邦布里尼（利古里亚）的原奥里尼亚克阶（A1-A2，与智人相关）和最新莫斯特阶（MS1-MS2，与尼安德特人相关）的空间组织，意大利）来评估这三个地层单元相对于场地使用的其他信息的变化。结合GIS和定量方法，可以研究这些层次中绘制的发现和特征的空间分布，表明尼安德特人和智人根据占领持续时间、占领强度、工具组合和动物群开发来组织他们的生活空间。我们的结果表明，绘制的发现的分布和空间的使用背后存在逻辑，这表明解剖学上的现代人类和尼安德特人的认知能力相当。这提供了进一步的数据，破坏了“行为现代性”作为人类起源研究中有用的启发式的概念。