Un outil en os à usages multiples dans un contexte moustérien

Hardy, Maurice; Bouchard, Geneviève; Doyon, Luc

doi:10.3406/bspf.2014.14466

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This implies that the alteration of the bone surface was not perceived by the human groups as an obstacle for their selection and use in knapping activities. The mechanical properties and relative utility of the bone were likely the main criteria for selecting a given bone fragment (Costamagno et al, ; Hardy, Pothier Bouchard, & Doyon, ). This could explain the preference for metapodials owing to their high density and the limited amount of meat and bone marrow they offer (Binford, ; Faith & Gordon, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mechanical properties and relative utility of the bone were likely the main criteria for selecting a given bone fragment (Costamagno et al, 2018;Hardy, Pothier Bouchard, & Doyon, 2014). This could explain the preference for metapodials owing to their high density and the limited amount of meat and bone marrow they offer (Binford, 1978;Faith & Gordon, 2007).…”

Section: Technological and Morphometric Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bone retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Stratigraphic Unit Xa (Alicante, Spain): First data and comparison with the Middle to Upper Pleistocene European record

Pérez

Hernández

Galván

2019

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Middle Palaeolithic sites frequently present bones with a double function, linked to subsistence and technology, which are generally referred to as “retouchers” or “bone retouchers.” These have been identified in several European sites from the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene, but different explanations of their origin and functionality have been cited. Although bone retouchers were made using various animal parts, they were usually produced from diaphyseal fragments of medium to large hoofed mammals. We present a small assemblage of six bone retouchers recovered from Stratigraphic Unit Xa (52.3 ± 4.6 ka), in the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (Alicante, Spain), and compare our data with previous studies from several sites in south‐western France, northern Italy, and north‐eastern Spain. These tools were generated using diaphyseal fragments from red deer, horses, and other large mammals previously exploited by humans for meat and marrow. Our findings add to the existing knowledge on the behaviour and faunal resource management of the last Neanderthal groups on the western Iberian Peninsula before they disappeared from the region around 45–40 ka.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Technological and Morphometric Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Stratigraphic Unit Xa (Alicante, Spain): First data and comparison with the Middle to Upper Pleistocene European record

Pérez

Hernández

Galván

2019

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…When osseous technology is concerned, and leaving aside bone retouchers, which have received much attention [e.g., 31 – 34 , 36 – 39 , 106 – 108 and references therein], the identification of expedient bone tools still heavily relies on the presence of use wear associated with flaking scars on both archaeological [ 42 , 53 – 55 ] and experimental specimens [ 56 ], accidental fracture and crushing of the working edges and surfaces [ 51 , 52 , 109 ], or a combination of these factors [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 110 ]. Faunal remains bearing only flake scars, however, have been somewhat overlooked.…”

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other instances of expedient bone tools from this region are reported in the literature, e.g., at Xujiayao [48], Zhoukoudian Upper Cave [49], and Yonggul Cave [50], but would require further assessment with modern methods to verify their chronology and the anthropogenic nature of the modifications. It has been proposed that these tools were used for cutting soft animal tissues, vegetal fibers, or as wedges for splitting wood, antler and bone [42,[51][52][53][54][55][56].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Doyon

Wang

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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Activities attested since at least 2.6 Myr, such as stone knapping, marrow extraction, and woodworking may have allowed early hominins to recognize the technological potential of discarded skeletal remains and equipped them with a transferable skillset fit for the marginal modification and utilization of bone flakes. Identifying precisely when and where expedient bone tools were used in prehistory nonetheless remains a challenging task owing to the multiple natural and anthropogenic processes that can mimic deliberately knapped bones. Here, we compare a large sample of the faunal remains from Lingjing, a 115 ka-old site from China which has yielded important hominin remains and rich faunal and lithic assemblages, with bone fragments produced by experimentally fracturing Equus caballus long bones. Our results provide a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria that can help zooarchaeologists and bone technologists distinguish faunal remains with intentional flake removal scars from those resulting from carcass processing activities. Experimental data shows marrow extraction seldom generates diaphyseal fragments bearing more than six flake scars arranged contiguously or in interspersed series. Long bone fragments presenting such characteristics can, therefore, be interpreted as being purposefully knapped to be used as expediency tools. The identification, based on the above experimental criteria, of 56 bone tools in the Lingjing faunal assemblage is consistent with the smaller size of the lithics found in the same layer. The continuity gradient observed in the size of lithics and knapped bones suggests the latter were used for tasks in which the former were less or not effective.

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“…When osseous technology is concerned, and leaving aside bone retouchers, which have received much attention (e.g., Verna and d'Errico, 2011;Mallye et al, 2012;Moncel et al, 2012;Mozota Holgueras, 2012;Blasco et al, 2013;Moigne et al, 2016;Costamagno et al, 2018;Daujeard et al, 2018;Doyon et al, 2018;Hutson et al, 2018a;Doyon et al, 2019;Pérez et al, 2019 and references therein), the identification of expedient bone tools still heavily relies on the presence of use wear associated with flaking scars (Hardy et al, 2014;Julien et al, 2015;Baumann et al, 2020;Kozlikin et al, 2020), accidental fracture and crushing of the working edges and surfaces (Burke and d'Errico, 2008;Tartar, 2012;van Kolfschoten et al, 2015;Hutson et al, 2018b), or a combination of these factors (Backwell and d'Errico, 2001, 2008Stammers et al, 2018). Faunal remains bearing only flake scars, however, have been somewhat overlooked.…”

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

Doyon¹,

Li²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Activities attested since at least 2.6 Myr, such as stone knapping, marrow extraction, and woodworking may have allowed early hominins to recognize the technological potential of discarded skeletal remains and equipped them with a transferable skillset fit for the marginal modification and utilization of bone flakes. Identifying precisely when and where expedient bone tools were used in prehistory nonetheless remains a challenging task owing to the multiple natural and anthropogenic processes that can mimic deliberately knapped bones. Here, we compare a large sample of the faunal remains from Lingjing, a 115 ka-old site from China which has yielded important hominin remains and rich faunal and lithic assemblages, with bone fragments produced by experimentally fracturing Equus caballus long bones. Our results provide a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria that can help zooarchaeologists and bone technologists distinguish faunal remains with intentional flake removal scars from those resulting from carcass processing activities. Experimental data shows marrow extraction seldom generates diaphyseal fragments bearing more than six flake scars arranged contiguously or in interspersed series. Long bone fragments presenting such characteristics can, therefore, be interpreted as being purposefully knapped to be used as expediency tools. The identification, based on the above experimental criteria, of 56 bone tools in the Lingjing faunal assemblage is consistent with the smaller size of the lithics found in the same layer. The continuity gradient observed in the size of lithics and knapped bones suggest the latter were used for tasks in which the former were less or not effective.

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Un outil en os à usages multiples dans un contexte moustérien

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Bone retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Stratigraphic Unit Xa (Alicante, Spain): First data and comparison with the Middle to Upper Pleistocene European record

Bone retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Stratigraphic Unit Xa (Alicante, Spain): First data and comparison with the Middle to Upper Pleistocene European record

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China

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