Middle Palaeolithic Bone Tools from the Open-Air Site Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Germany)

Gaudzinski, Sabine

doi:10.1006/jasc.1998.0311

Cited by 84 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…Modern humans shaped bone by grinding and polishing to produce standardized or so-called formal tools that were used for specific functions (6,9). Examples of Neandertal bone tools do exist (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15); however, most of these were made through percussion to mimic existing stone tools, such as handaxes, scrapers, and denticulates. Standardized bone tools in forms distinct from stone tools and shaped by grinding and polishing occur in the Châtelperronian (16) and Uluzzian (17), but (i) whether Neandertals made these assemblage types is debated and, furthermore, (ii) their late date means that Neandertals could have been influenced by modern humans already in Europe (18,19).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe

Soressi

McPherron

Lenoir

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

237

116

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Modern humans replaced Neandertals ∼40,000 y ago. Close to the time of replacement, Neandertals show behaviors similar to those of the modern humans arriving into Europe, including the use of specialized bone tools, body ornaments, and small blades. It is highly debated whether these modern behaviors developed before or as a result of contact with modern humans. Here we report the identification of a type of specialized bone tool, lissoir , previously only associated with modern humans. The microwear preserved on one of these lissoir is consistent with the use of lissoir in modern times to obtain supple, lustrous, and more impermeable hides. These tools are from a Neandertal context proceeding the replacement period and are the oldest specialized bone tools in Europe. As such, they are either a demonstration of independent invention by Neandertals or an indication that modern humans started influencing European Neandertals much earlier than previously believed. Because these finds clearly predate the oldest known age for the use of similar objects in Europe by anatomically modern humans, they could also be evidence for cultural diffusion from Neandertals to modern humans.

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confidence: 99%

“…Examples with earlier dates are disputed (20). For example, the site of Saltzgitter-Lebenstedt yielded several mammoth ribs modified by percussion and then shaped by grinding (12). However, these ribs lack standardization, they do not match known bone-tool types, their intended use is unclear, and they are not repeated at other Neandertal sites.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe

Soressi

McPherron

Lenoir

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

237

116

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“…En 1999 un trabajo sobre el utillaje óseo de Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Alemania), aportó evidencias de la elaboración de útiles de hueso, con técnicas relativamente complejas (Gaudzinski 1999).…”

Section: Las Evidencias De Trabajo Y Uso Del Hueso En El Paleolítico unclassified

“…Del conjunto de utillaje en hueso, destacan 20 costillas de mamut, trabajadas a partir de una cadena operativa (Fig. 2) bastante compleja, con una técnica refinada para trabajar materiales óseos (Gaudzinski 1999). La importancia de SalzgitterLebenstedt radica en que dicha cadena operativa y las técnicas aplicadas permiten refutar la ausencia de un utillaje óseo complejo y estandarizado en el Paleolítico medio.…”

Section: Las Evidencias De Trabajo Y Uso Del Hueso En El Paleolítico unclassified

“…Por otra parte, aparecen otro tipo de útiles también (Mozota 2012), y en ciertos momentos y lugares del Paleolítico medio (Gaudzinski 1999, Valensi 2002) se documenta el trabajo del hueso mediante cadenas operativas complejas. Esos procesos no son idénticos a los del Paleolítico superior, pero sí resultan similares en términos de complejidad y planificación.…”

Section: Las Evidencias De Trabajo Y Uso Del Hueso En El Paleolítico unclassified

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Los útiles óseos “poco elaborados” en el Paleolítico inferior y medio y su continuidad en el Paleolítico superior. Una revisión historiográfica

Holgueras¹

2014

Complutum

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Makers of the early Aurignacian of Europe

Churchill¹,

Smith²

2000

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

183

101

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Despite intensive study and a number of remarkable discoveries in the last two decades of the 20th century, our understanding of the cultural and biological processes that resulted in the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic and the establishment of modern humans in Interpleniglacial Europe remains far from complete. There is active debate concerning the timing and location of the origins of the Aurignacian, the nature of the origins of Initial Upper Paleolithic industries (whether by autochthonous development or through acculturation by Aurignacian peoples), the timing of the appearance of early modern humans and the disappearance of the Neandertals, and the relationship of archeologically defined cultures to these different types of hominids. Frustrating our attempts to address these latter two questions is a general paucity of taxonomically diagnostic human fossil material from early Upper Paleolithic contexts. We undertake here a review of the human fossil record of Interpleniglacial Europe, and its archeological and chronological context, to clarify to the extent possible the nature of the relationship between hominid groups and the earliest Upper Paleolithic artifact industries, particularly the early Aurignacian. Although substantial difficulties involved in interpreting the fossil, archeological, and geochronological records of this time period prohibit making any definitive statements, a number of observations are suggested by the current data: 1) the Middle Paleolithic of Europe appears to have been made exclusively by Neandertals; 2) Initial Upper Paleolithic industries (with the exception of the Bachokirian) appear to have their roots in the late Middle Paleolithic industries of their respective regions; 3) all of the human fossils yet recovered from Initial Upper Paleolithic (except the Bachokirian) contexts for which any diagnostic morphology is present have their greatest morphological affinities with Neandertals and not early modern humans; 4) modern humans were almost certainly established in Europe by ca. 32 ky BP, with a strong possibility that they were there by ca. 36 ky BP. Claims for an appearance before 36 ky BP cannot be substantiated with currently available evidence; 5) the hypothesis that modern humans are uniquely associated with the Aurignacian cannot yet be refuted. Aurignacian-associated human fossils (including those from the Bachokirian) for which any diagnostic morphology is present have their greatest affinities with early modern Europeans and not Neandertals; and 6) Neandertals and modern humans coexisted in Europe for at least 2,000-4,000 years, and perhaps for 8,000-10,000 years or longer. The overall picture is one of an extended period of cultural contact, involving some degree of genetic exchange, between Neandertals and early modern Europeans.

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Middle Palaeolithic Bone Tools from the Open-Air Site Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Germany)

Cited by 84 publications

References 0 publications

Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe

Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe

Los útiles óseos “poco elaborados” en el Paleolítico inferior y medio y su continuidad en el Paleolítico superior. Una revisión historiográfica

Makers of the early Aurignacian of Europe

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