Whether that negotiation used shared language, gestures, vocalizations, or other communication channels is entirely speculative.

But the fact of the encounter implies a social world more complex than simple avoidance or hostility.

The symbolic and cultural evidence from Denisova Cave itself adds another layer.

The cave has yielded artifacts of remarkable sophistication for their time: bone needles for sewing (implying the production of complex clothing), pendants made from animal teeth and shells (implying symbolic decoration), and what may be some of the earliest examples of personal ornaments in the archaeological record.

These artifacts cannot all be definitively assigned to either Neanderthals or Denisovans rather than to the complex stratigraphy of a multi-species, multi-period cave site.