A retouched bone shaft from the Late Mousterian at Fumane cave (Italy). Technological, experimental and micro-wear analysis

Romandini, Matteo; Cristiani, Emanuela; Peresani, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2014.08.001

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Finally, we do not find in our experimental material the high prevalence of long bone fragments observed in the PBT sample with numerous contiguous and interspersed series of flake scars. Considering the sedimentary context, the rarity of carnivore modifications on all examined samples and the fact that experimental deliberate flaking of bone fragments of the same type and size produce flake scars comparable to those observed on the archeological specimens (ETTOS, 1985;Vincent, 1993;Romandini et al, 2015;Baumann et al, 2020), we must conclude that a subsample of PBT and RCS should be interpreted as composed by bone fragments that were deliberately modified through percussion by Lingjing hominins. The most probable goal of this behaviour was that of using the resulting retouched bone fragments as tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Doyon¹,

Li²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Activities attested since at least 2.6 Myr, such as stone knapping, marrow extraction, and woodworking may have allowed early hominins to recognize the technological potential of discarded skeletal remains and equipped them with a transferable skillset fit for the marginal modification and utilization of bone flakes. Identifying precisely when and where expedient bone tools were used in prehistory nonetheless remains a challenging task owing to the multiple natural and anthropogenic processes that can mimic deliberately knapped bones. Here, we compare a large sample of the faunal remains from Lingjing, a 115 ka-old site from China which has yielded important hominin remains and rich faunal and lithic assemblages, with bone fragments produced by experimentally fracturing Equus caballus long bones. Our results provide a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria that can help zooarchaeologists and bone technologists distinguish faunal remains with intentional flake removal scars from those resulting from carcass processing activities. Experimental data shows marrow extraction seldom generates diaphyseal fragments bearing more than six flake scars arranged contiguously or in interspersed series. Long bone fragments presenting such characteristics can, therefore, be interpreted as being purposefully knapped to be used as expediency tools. The identification, based on the above experimental criteria, of 56 bone tools in the Lingjing faunal assemblage is consistent with the smaller size of the lithics found in the same layer. The continuity gradient observed in the size of lithics and knapped bones suggest the latter were used for tasks in which the former were less or not effective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Doyon¹,

Li²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Moreover, these features are also shared with the Aurignacian bone industry from Fumane (Broglio et al 2006). At Fumane, the handful of bone tools (one awl and two fragments of worked rib) found in layer A3 (Peresani et al 2016), provide less substantial evidence of the Uluzzian worked-bone industry than is known at Grotta del Cavallo, Castelcivita, La Fabbrica and Riparo Broion. This is with the exception of the only bone scraper (Romandini et al 2014) and bone retouchers (Jéquier et al 2012) found at the site, which are artifacts commonly found in the MP-UP transitional technocomplexes. In the extensive debate surrounding the modifications in human societies that occurred in concomitance with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans in Europe, a key role is played by the shell assemblages largely used as ornamental and symbolic objects (Vanhaeren and d'Errico 2006).…”

Section: Bone Technologymentioning

confidence: 82%

The Uluzzian in the north of Italy: insights around the new evidence at Riparo Broion

Peresani

Bertola

Delpiano

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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In attempt to enlighten the debate on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, this work contributes new data from a yet unpublished site, Riparo Broion in the northeast of Italy. Studies confirm the presence of the Uluzzian technocomplex embedded in an archaeological sequence which includes Mousterian, Gravettian and Epigravettian. These layers have yielded finds of bone and lithic technology, shell beads, engraved portable art and the use of red mineral pigments, which make this archive a unique case for evaluating the implications of cultural dynamics in Northern Italy 44.0-42.4 ky BP. The diversity of the faunal assemblage recovered in layers 1f and 1g is representative of the different environments surrounding the site, with ungulates being targeted for hunting and consumption. The lithic assemblage records a high fragmentation rate due to the extensive use of the bipolar knapping technique, responsible for a large variety of splintered pieces and associated chips which also affected the backed pieces, lunates and end-scrapers. The features of the bone tools, as well as those of the marine and freshwater beads echo the technique used in the Uluzzian in the south of Italy, confirming the geographic spread of this technocomplex in the North-Adriatic region, as previously envisaged at Grotta Fumane. However, comparisons between these two sites stimulate a discussion around the possible driving forces responsible for the differences observed in technological, typological and structural lithic assemblages. A definitive scenario for the MP-UP transition in this region of Southern Europe is ongoing and Riparo Broion is adding key contributions.

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“…Finally, we do not find in our experimental material the high prevalence of long bone fragments observed in the PBT sample with numerous contiguous and interspersed series of flake scars. Considering the sedimentary context, the rarity of carnivore modifications on all examined samples and the fact that experimental deliberate flaking of bone fragments of the same type and size produce flake scars comparable to those observed on the archeological specimens [54,[157][158][159], we must conclude that a subsample of PBT and RCS should be interpreted as composed by bone fragments that were deliberately modified through percussion by Lingjing hominins. The most probable goal of this behaviour was that of using the resulting retouched bone fragments as tools.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Doyon

Wang

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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Activities attested since at least 2.6 Myr, such as stone knapping, marrow extraction, and woodworking may have allowed early hominins to recognize the technological potential of discarded skeletal remains and equipped them with a transferable skillset fit for the marginal modification and utilization of bone flakes. Identifying precisely when and where expedient bone tools were used in prehistory nonetheless remains a challenging task owing to the multiple natural and anthropogenic processes that can mimic deliberately knapped bones. Here, we compare a large sample of the faunal remains from Lingjing, a 115 ka-old site from China which has yielded important hominin remains and rich faunal and lithic assemblages, with bone fragments produced by experimentally fracturing Equus caballus long bones. Our results provide a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria that can help zooarchaeologists and bone technologists distinguish faunal remains with intentional flake removal scars from those resulting from carcass processing activities. Experimental data shows marrow extraction seldom generates diaphyseal fragments bearing more than six flake scars arranged contiguously or in interspersed series. Long bone fragments presenting such characteristics can, therefore, be interpreted as being purposefully knapped to be used as expediency tools. The identification, based on the above experimental criteria, of 56 bone tools in the Lingjing faunal assemblage is consistent with the smaller size of the lithics found in the same layer. The continuity gradient observed in the size of lithics and knapped bones suggests the latter were used for tasks in which the former were less or not effective.

show abstract

A retouched bone shaft from the Late Mousterian at Fumane cave (Italy). Technological, experimental and micro-wear analysis

Cited by 26 publications

References 34 publications

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

The Uluzzian in the north of Italy: insights around the new evidence at Riparo Broion

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

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