News Archaeology Neandertals may have hunted in horse-trapping teams 200,000 years ago New dating of Germany’s Schöningen site rewrites the timeline of complex group behavior Neandertals organized in teams and wielding wooden spears ambushed horses at an ancient lakeshore about 200,000 years ago, a new study finds. olgaIT/Getty Images By Bruce Bower 1 hour ago Neandertals formed sophisticated hunting parties that drove wild horses into fatal traps around 200,000 years ago. At Germany’s Schöningen site, wooden spears, double-pointed sticks, stone artifacts and butchered remains of more than 50 horses of various ages are some 100,000 years younger than previously thought, researchers report May 9 in Science Advances. Excavations of this material, now linked to a time when Neandertals inhabited Europe, occurred in the 1990s along an ancient lakeshore. This new age estimate fits a scenario in which Neandertals learned enough about equine behavior to organize teams that guided horse families to ambush spots, say zooarchaeologist Jarod Hutson and colleagues. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.