http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/50000-year-old-tar-smeared-tool-shows-neanderthal-smarts

Archaeologists reconstructed how Neanderthals manufactured sticky tar from birch bark 50,000 years ago. Neanderthals may have used the tar to attach stone points to wooden spears, as shown.

Old-school scholars considered Neanderthals brutish and simple, but recent research shows they made jewelry, had a precision grip, and may have even painted cave art. Now, a tar-caked tool found on a Dutch beach supports the idea that Neanderthals could accomplish complex, multistep tasks that took planning ahead over several days.