At first glance, it doesn’t look like much: a few uneven lines etched into the soft, chalky outer layer of a small, thin flint flake. But a group of archaeologists claims those uneven lines are a deliberate marking, making the 3.5cm-long flake the latest piece of evidence for symbolic thought among Neanderthals. Kiik-Koba Cave overlooks the Zuya River in the Crimean Mountains. First excavated in the 1920s, the sediment layers that filled the cave contained evidence of a long history of Neanderthal occupation. The engraved flake came from a layer dating to between 35,486 and 37,026 years old.

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