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Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe

Soressi, Marie, McPherron, Shannon P., Lenoir, Michel, Dogandzic, Tamara, Goldberg, Paul, Jacobs, Zenobia, Maigrot, Yolaine, Martisius, Naomi L., Miller, Christopher E., Rendu, William, and others. (2013) Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 (35). pp. 14186-14190. ISSN 0027-8424. (doi:10.1073/pnas.1302730110) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:48520)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1302730110

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1073/pnas.1302730110
Uncontrolled keywords: human evolution; Paleolithic archaeology; Middle Paleolithic
Subjects: Q Science
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Matthew Skinner
Date Deposited: 15 May 2015 10:50 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2021 13:24 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/48520 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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