Technological and functional analysis of 80–60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

d’Errico, Francesco; Backwell, Lucinda; Wadley, Lyn; Geis, Lila; Queffelec, Alain; Banks, William E.; Doyon, Luc

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20680-z

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Three ISO 25178 parameters were calculated ( Table 4 ): the root mean square height (Sq ) , the degree of bias of the shape of the roughness (Ssk), and the developed surface ratio (Sdr). Previous studies have shown the pertinence of these parameters to characterize different degrees of polish on archaeological artefacts [ 11 , 39 , 64 ]. In addition, they present the advantage of being largely independent from one another.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiproxy analysis of Upper Palaeolithic lustrous gravels supports their anthropogenic use

Geis,

d’Errico,

Jordan

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Upper Palaeolithic sites in southwestern France attributed to the Upper Gravettian and the Solutrean yielded sub spherical gravels with a highly shiny appearance that have intrigued researchers since the 1930s. In this work, we analyze specimens from five sites, including the recently excavated Solutrean site of Landry, to establish whether their presence in archaeological layers and peculiar aspect are due to natural processes or human agency. We study the spatial distribution of gravels at Landry and submit archaeological gravels from the five sites, natural formations, Landry sediment sieving, and polishing experiments with a rotary tumbling machine to morphometric, colorimetric, microscopic, and textural analyses. Our results indicate the lustrous gravels found at the five sites result from deliberate selection and suggest their shiny appearance is the consequence of human agency, possibly resulting from prolonged contact with a soft material such as animal skin. Ethnographic accounts indicate that these gravels may have been used for magico-religious ritual purposes (charms, sorcery, divination etc.), in games, as elements of musical instruments, and as items serving other social and personal purposes. We argue that these objects reflect a cultural innovation emerged during the Gravettian and continued into the Solutrean.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiproxy analysis of Upper Palaeolithic lustrous gravels supports their anthropogenic use

Geis,

d’Errico,

Jordan

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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“…This equipment was used with the aim of producing 3D renderings and profiles of natural and anthropogenic traces and characterize the roughness of worn and unworn areas. Post-acquisition treatment was carried out using the Mountain View 8 software and followed a procedure adapted from Martisius et al 63 , d’Errico et al 64 and Ma et al 65 . Using built-in operators, it entails levelling the surface (least square method), removing outliers (both isolated and close to the edge), and filling-in non-measured points (interpolating values from neighbors).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France

d’Errico

Sémeril²,

Coqueugniot

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The earliest European carvings, made of mammoth ivory, depict animals, humans, and anthropomorphs. They are found at Early Aurignacian sites of the Swabian Jura in Germany. Despite the wide geographical spread of the Aurignacian across Europe, these carvings have no contemporaneous counterparts. Here, we document a small, intriguing object, that sheds light on this uniqueness. Found at the Grotte des Gorges (Jura, France), in a layer sandwiched between Aurignacian contexts and dated to c. 36.2 ka, the object bears traces of anthropogenic modifications indicating intentional carving. Microtomographic, microscopic, three-dimensional roughness and residues analyses reveal the carving is a fragment of a large ammonite, which was modified to represent a caniformia head decorated with notches and probably transported for long time in a container stained with ochre. While achieving Swabian Jura-like miniaturization, the Grotte des Gorges specimen displays original features, indicating the craftsman emulated ivory carvings while introducing significant technical, thematic, and stylistic innovations. This finding suggests a low degree of cultural connectivity between Early Aurignacian hunter-gatherer groups in the production of their symbolic material culture. The pattern conforms to the existence of cultural boundaries limiting the transmission of symbolic practices while leaving space for the emergence of original regional expressions.

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“…Studies carried out by researchers in various parts of the world have revealed the importance of bone industry in the processing of animal carcasses and the removal of materials such as meat, tubers and termites, demonstrating the importance and effectiveness of bone tools in very ancient contexts 15 – 17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of bones as tools in Late Lower Paleolithic of Central Italy

Marinelli,

Moncel,

Lemorini

2024

Sci Rep

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The Latium area in Italy has yielded rich evidence of Lower Paleolithic sites with both faunal remains, artefacts, and human fossil remains, such as the Ceprano human skull. Many are the sites where lithic industry has been found in association with bone industry. Medium and large animals were a key resource because they provided an enormous amount of meat and fat. However, they were extensively exploited for their bones, rich in marrow, and as raw material for tool production. Bone tools are so far few documented for early period of time and especially for the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe. We report here evidence of bone tools and their efficiency of use for hominin groups living in the Frosinone-Ceprano basin during the MIS 11/10, a key period which records behavioral innovations and onset of the Neanderthal behaviors. In three sites, Isoletta, Colle Avarone and Selvotta, several bone tools and bone flakes have been discovered (MIS 11/10). They were associated to stone artefacts part of the hominins tool-kit. Technological and use-wear analyses conducted on these bone industries, dated between 410 and 430 ka, yield relevant results to understand the effectiveness of the bones tools found associated with lithic series, including handaxes.

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Technological and functional analysis of 80–60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

Cited by 12 publications

References 102 publications

Multiproxy analysis of Upper Palaeolithic lustrous gravels supports their anthropogenic use

Multiproxy analysis of Upper Palaeolithic lustrous gravels supports their anthropogenic use

A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France

The use of bones as tools in Late Lower Paleolithic of Central Italy

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