Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study

Julien, Marie-Anne; Hardy, Bruce; Stahlschmidt, Mareike Cordula; Urban, Brigitte; Serangeli, Jordi; Conard, Nicholas J.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.006

Cited by 81 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Evidence related to specific activities such as carving and the cutting or scraping of bone, most likely for the production of bone tools, is scarcely known in early Palaeolithic contexts3810. The innovative data presented here provides the first evidence of bone working, through sawing, using a specific kind of flint tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other examples of tools made from modified animal bones include flaked bone tools, such as bifaces made from flaked elephant bones that have been found in several Acheulean contexts, bone flakes and bone retouchers, unearthed in numerous Middle and Late Pleistocene sites789101112131415. Further evidence of specialised bone tool production comes from the Middle Palaeolithic sites of Pech de l’Azé I and Abri Peyrony in France.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

Zupancich

Nunziante-Cesaro

Blasco

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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For a long while, the controversy surrounding several bone tools coming from pre-Upper Palaeolithic contexts favoured the view of Homo sapiens as the only species of the genus Homo capable of modifying animal bones into specialised tools. However, evidence such as South African Early Stone Age modified bones, European Lower Palaeolithic flaked bone tools, along with Middle and Late Pleistocene bone retouchers, led to a re-evaluation of the conception of Homo sapiens as the exclusive manufacturer of specialised bone tools. The evidence presented herein include use wear and bone residues identified on two flint scrapers as well as a sawing mark on a fallow deer tibia, not associated with butchering activities. Dated to more than 300 kya, the evidence here presented is among the earliest related to tool-assisted bone working intended for non-dietary purposes, and contributes to the debate over the recognition of bone working as a much older behaviour than previously thought. The results of this study come from the application of a combined methodological approach, comprising use wear analysis, residue analysis, and taphonomy. This approach allowed for the retrieval of both direct and indirect evidence of tool-assisted bone working, at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave (Israel).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

Zupancich

Nunziante-Cesaro

Blasco

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…The discovery of these objects, although representing an exception in the repetitive world of Mousterian retouchers, indicates that the use of a technology like polishing in bone processing was not foreign to Neandertals' nature. Furthermore, a basic shaping or preparation has been also supposed for some bone tools from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen (Julien et al, 2015)..…”

Section: Bone Artefactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone tools, ornaments and other unusual objects during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy

Arrighi

Moroni

Tassoni

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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The arrival of Modern Humans (MHs) in Europe between 50 ka and 36 ka coincides with significant changes in human behaviour, regarding the production of tools, the exploitation of resources and the systematic use of ornaments and colouring substances. The emergence of the socalled modern behaviours is usually associated with MHs, although in these last decades findings relating to symbolic thinking of pre-Sapiens groups have been claimed. In this paper we present a synthesis of the Italian evidence concerning bone manufacturing and the use of ornaments and pigments in the time span encompassing the demise of Neandertals and their replacement by MHs. Current data show that Mousterian bone tools are mostly obtained from bone fragments used "as is". Conversely an organized production of "fine shaped" bone tools is characteristic of the Uluzzian and the Protoaurignacian, when the complexity inherent in the manufacturing processes suggests that bone artefacts are not to be considered as expedient resources. Some traces of symbolic activities are associated to Neandertals in Northern Italy. Ornaments (mostly tusk shells) and pigments used for decorative purposes are well recorded during the Uluzzian. Their features and distribution witness to an intriguing cultural homogeneity within this technocomplex. The Protoaurignacian is characterized by a wider archaeological evidence, consisting of personal ornaments (mostly pierced gastropods), pigments and artistic items.

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“…Today, there is considerable evidence for elaborate lithic technology (14)(15), manufacture of effective wooden weapons and bone tools (e.g. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Also, the production of birch tar adhesives and composite tools is attested for Neanderthals (23)(24).…”

Section: Introductory Paragraphmentioning

confidence: 99%

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.

Leder¹,

Hermann²,

Cmh³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The Early Upper Palaeolithic of Europe is well-known for its remarkable symbolic expressions which demonstrate the capacity of early modern humans for abstract thinking, storytelling and communication by symbols and adornment. By contrast, the capacity for advanced technology and modern cultural behaviour in (late) Neanderthals is commonly perceived as limited despite recently accumulating evidence to the contrary. Here we report the discovery of a decorated bone item from recent excavations at Einhornhöhle in the Harz Mountains (northern Germany) that is engraved with a geometric motif composed of stacked-offset chevrons. The find is directly dated to ~51,000 years before present and the age is confirmed by further radiocarbon dates. These early dates assigns the decorated bone to late Neanderthals. Experimental studies suggest that the bone was pretreated before carving. The small excavation area produced cut-marked bones while diagnostic Middle Palaeolithic stone artefacts are present within a few meters distance inside the cave. For the first time, we successfully directly dated a decorated item of Middle Palaeolithic origin and our findings show that expressions of symbolic behaviour were part of Neanderthals’ behavioural repertoire before the early modern humans arrived in Central Europe. While located at the northern boundary of the Pleistocene human habitat, northern Central Europe has produced exceptional finds such as wooden weapons, bone tools, adhesives and now evidence for Neanderthal symbolic behaviour, suggesting that challenging environments may have prompted exceptional skills and cognitive abilities in Pleistocene pre-modern humans.

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Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study

Cited by 81 publications

References 75 publications

Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

Bone tools, ornaments and other unusual objects during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.

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