Lower Paleolithic bone tools from the ‘Spear Horizon’ at Schöningen (Germany)

Kolfschoten, Thijs van; Parfitt, Simon A.; Serangeli, Jordi; Bello, Silvia M.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.012

Cited by 108 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…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%

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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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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“…It is not the biface per se that facilitated the sustained presence in north‐west Europe, but the full behavioural package that accompanied biface manufacture (e.g. hide processing [Moncel et al , ], bone and wooden tools [Warren, ; Richter and Krbetschek, ; Van Kolfschoten et al , ], and controlled use of fire [Molines et al , ; Gowlett, ; Preece et al , ]) at a species level. However, it is not clear whether this is due to the presence of a new species, such as H. heidelbergensis , representing an in situ development or a dispersal into Europe from elsewhere (Hosfield and Cole, ).…”

Section: Behavioural Complexity In Non‐homo Sapiens Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is not the biface per se that facilitated the sustained presence in north-west Europe, but the full behavioural package that accompanied biface manufacture (e.g. hide processing [Moncel et al, 2015], bone and wooden tools [Warren, 1911;Richter and Krbetschek, 2015;Van Kolfschoten et al, 2015], and controlled use of fire [ (Hosfield and Cole, 2018).…”

Section: Archaeological Perspectives On Hominin Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspects of human physical and behavioural evolution during the last 1 million years

Galway‐Witham

Cole

Stringer

2019

J Quaternary Science

106

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This paper reviews some of the main advances in our understanding of human evolution over the last 1 million years, presenting a holistic overview of a field defined by interdisciplinary approaches to studying the origins of our species. We begin by briefly summarizing the climatic context across the Old World for the last 1 million years before directly addressing the fossil and archaeological records. The main themes in this work explore (i) recent discoveries in the fossil record over the last 15 years, such as Homo naledi and Homo floresiensis; (ii) the implications of palaeogenetics for understanding the evolutionary history of, and relationships between, Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens; (iii) the interplay between physiology and metabolic demand, landscape use, and behavioural adaptations in the evolution of morphological and behavioural innovation; and (iv) recent advances in archaeological understanding for the behavioural record, in particular that of the Neanderthals. This paper seeks to provide a broad‐scale, holistic perspective of our current understanding of human evolution for the last 1 Ma, providing a reference point for researchers that can be built upon as new discoveries continue to develop the landscapes of human evolution. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…In the Mousterian world in Italy bone was, indeed, an optional raw material, opportunistically exploited for tools that do not result from a planned sequence of actions. These tools mainly consist of unmodified long bone fragments of medium or large ungulates used as retouchers, a kind of implement which has been ascertained to have been in existence in Europe since the Lower Palaeolithic (Blasco et al, 2013;Serangeli et al, 2015;van Kolfschoten et al, 2015;Moigne et al, 2016). The occasional exploitation of other taxa (including humans) is also recorded (Daujear et al, 2014;Jéquier et al, 2012 andRougier et al, 2016).…”

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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Lower Paleolithic bone tools from the ‘Spear Horizon’ at Schöningen (Germany)

Cited by 108 publications

References 56 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

Aspects of human physical and behavioural evolution during the last 1 million years

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

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