Comparisons of impact flakes derived from hyena and hammerstone long bone breakage

Coil, Reed; Yezzi-Woodley, Katrina; Tappen, Martha

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105167

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The most efficient technique to extract marrow relies on simply striking the bone with a hammer (usually a stone) when the bone is held in the hand or placed on an anvil, or by striking the bone against a stationary anvil 61 – 63 . The precise methods used to break marrow bones vary between different cultural groups 64 , but the blows typically result in a circular or oval impact area with flakes that are driven into the medullary cavity at the point of impact 65 – 67 . Successfully breaking open the marrow bone can usually be achieved by a single, carefully judged blow 61 , 62 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK

Parfitt

Lewis

Bello

2022

Sci Rep

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The exceptional survival of Middle Pleistocene wooden spears at Schöningen (Germany) and Clacton-on-Sea (UK) provides tantalizing evidence for the widespread use of organic raw materials by early humans. At Clacton, less well-known organic artefacts include modified bones that were identified by the Abbé Henri Breuil in the 1920s. Some of these pieces were described and figured by Hazzledine Warren in his classic 1951 paper on the flint industry from the Clacton Channel, but they have been either overlooked in subsequent studies or dismissed as the product of natural damage. We provide the first detailed analysis of two Clactonian bone tools found by Warren and a previously unrecognized example recovered in 1934 during excavations directed by Mary Leakey. Microscopic examination of percussion damage suggests the bones were used as knapping hammers to shape or resharpen flake tools. Early Palaeolithic bone tools are exceedingly rare, and the Clacton examples are the earliest known organic knapping hammers associated with a core-and-flake (Mode 1) lithic technology. The use of soft hammers for knapping challenges the consensus that Clactonian flintknapping was undertaken solely with hard hammerstones, thus removing a major technological and behavioural difference used to distinguish the Clactonian from late Acheulean handaxe (Mode 2) industries.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK

Parfitt

Lewis

Bello

2022

Sci Rep

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“…All the remains have been measured in millimeters and breakage has been analyzed distinguishing between green and dry (Villa and Mahieu 1991). Diagnostic elements of intentional breakage have also been documented: percussion notches, percussion pits, pseudo-notches, positive flakes, adhering flakes, flakes, microstriations and striations, and peeling (Capaldo and Blumenschine 1994;Coil et al 2020;Pickering and Egeland 2006;Vettese et al 2020). To discern possible breakage patterns, their specific location in the bone has been collected.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too good to go? Neanderthal subsistence strategies at Prado Vargas Cave (Burgos, Spain)

de la Fuente Juez,

Navazo,

Benito-Calvo

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Understanding the relationship between Neanderthal groups and their environment and they it is essential to comprehending their ways of life. In this article, we use both zooarchaeology and taphonomy to study the fauna assemblages found in Level 4 of Prado Vargas Cave (Cornejo, Burgos, Spain). The results point to a site in which the main accumulating agent was Neanderthal groups, who transported small- and medium-sized animal carcasses—with deer as the dominant taxon—according to their general utility to systematically and intensely exploit the major muscle bundles, bone marrow, skin, and tendons. According to dental microwear analysis, reiterated and prolonged occupations occurred in diverse moments, suggesting that the site was used most often as a long-term campsite. We detected a minimal amount of carnivore activity, who accessed the cave during periods of human absence and modified some of the remains left by the Neanderthals. Together, this information indicates that Prado Vargas is a key site to understand the dynamics of the Neanderthals in the linking area between the Castillan Plateau and the Cantabrian Range.

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“…Every anatomical element (over 3 cm long) was examined under a LEICA S8 APO stereoscope with 10× eyepieces in search of bone surface biostratinomic and diagenetic alterations, such as cut marks (grouped as skinning, dismembering and defleshing types following Binford 107 , Galán and Domínguez-Rodrigo 108 and Nilssen 109 ), hammerstone percussion marks (including conchoidal notches [110][111][112] ), type and angle of fracturing (fresh-green versus old-dry following Villa and Mahieu 113 , percussion marks including cortical percussion notches (negative flake scars); impact flakes (positive flake scars); adhering flakes, percussion pits and crushing marks 110,111,[114][115][116][117][118] . According to diagnostic characteristics, impact flakes were defined and distinguished from those made by carnivores 119 : ventral face with the point of detachments and bulb; greater breadth than length; absence or reduction of the cortical surface. Thermoalterations colour degrees were recorded following Stiner et al 120 .…”

Section: Archaeozoological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsistence of early anatomically modern humans in Europe as evidenced in the Protoaurignacian occupations of Fumane Cave, Italy

Marín-Arroyo

Terlato

Vidal‐Cordasco

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Documenting the subsistence strategies developed by early modern humans is relevant for understanding the success of their dispersal throughout Eurasia. Today, we know that there was not a single colonization event and that the process was progressive while coping with the MIS3 abrupt climatic oscillations. Modern humans expanded into the continent by adapting to different topographic situations and by exploiting resources in diverse ecological niches. The northern part of Italy is one of the first European regions where early modern humans are documented. Here, we present the subsistence regimen adopted by the Protoaurignacian groups in two different levels in Fumane Cave based on archaeozoological data. New radiocarbon dates confirm an overlap between Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian occupations, around 42 and 41,000 cal BP, and reveal that modern humans occupied the cave from GI10 to GS9, the last level coinciding with the Heinrich Event 4. The data indicate seasonal site occupations during late spring/summer and that prey exploitation was focused mostly on ibex and chamois, killed in nearby areas. The whole faunal assemblage suggests the presence of early modern humans in a cold environment with mostly open landscapes and patchy woodlands. The estimation of net primary productivity (NPP) in Fumane, compared with other contemporaneous Italian sites, reflects how the NPP fluctuations in the Prealpine area, where Fumane is located, affected the biotic resources in contrast to known Mediterranean sites. From a pan-European perspective, the spatiotemporal fluctuation of the NPP versus the subsistence strategies adopted by Protoaurignacian groups in the continent supports rapid Homo sapiens dispersal and resilience in a mosaic of environments that were affected by significant climate changes.

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Comparisons of impact flakes derived from hyena and hammerstone long bone breakage

Cited by 9 publications

References 43 publications

Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK

Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK

Too good to go? Neanderthal subsistence strategies at Prado Vargas Cave (Burgos, Spain)

Subsistence of early anatomically modern humans in Europe as evidenced in the Protoaurignacian occupations of Fumane Cave, Italy

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