More than 1,000 feet inside a cave in SW France are several circles comprised of about 400 broken stalagmites. They were built by someone or something 175,000 years ago. Was it cave bears pushing aside stalagmites to hibernate? No. The largest ring is nearly 22′ in diameter and has relatively uniform pieces that are bigger than the uniform pieces forming the smaller semicircle. For both, the stalagmites have had their tips and bases broken off. Plus, cave bears don’t make fire, and several sites within the circle are blackened from scorching.
The only people around at the time were Neanderthals, and this has shocked many researchers who felt such a structure was beyond their capabilities. Whether the structure was symbolic, or for ritual or day-to-day use we don’t know. But gone are the days when we dismissed Neanderthals as simple, unintelligent brutes.