(Pre)-Neanderthal Technology: What remained and what

was lost in the Record

www.aggsbach.de/2018/02/pre-neanderthal-technology-what-remained-and-what-was-lost-in-the-record/

View all posts by Katzman → February 20, 2018

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Fig. 1 shows convergent elongated “points” or scrapers from Le Moustier and Fig. 2 large
scrapers from different French sites coming from a 19th century collection. Some years ago
these artifacts would have been an anchor-point in the suggestion that the Neanderthals
and their immediate ancestors in Eurasia were Dimwitted, Dull, Crude, Stupid Subhumans-
an evolutionary failure. Scrapers and Points made from stone were a signature of stasis-
the repetitions of the unvarying same.

But how could these hominins survive 250000 years or more in the harshest climates
experienced by humans anywhere? Was Neanderthal technology really as simple as that?
Fig.3 shows a normal sized Cordiform Handaxe and a minuscule cordiform from the same
site (Saint-Julien de Liège) suggesting that Neanderthals were abled to produce small and
delicate instruments that could, without knowing their specific context, easily be taken as
Neolithic arrowheads. Such delicate Mousterian artifacts have already discussed in this
blog.

Technological studies of the last 25 yrs. have demonstrated, beyond the typological
monotony, a remarkable diversification of Neanderthal lithic technologies since MIS8/7
(Levallois, Laminar, Quina, Discoid,Bifacial) well adapted to specific situations and tasks.
Anyhow, one gets the impression that Neanderthal culture did not show the same

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acceleration of innovative trends that characterized Homo Sapiens. Maybe Neanderthals
suggested their stable lithic system just as “good enough” without looking for new
solutions.

Until the 1980 we did not know much about non lithic artifacts before the Advent of Homo
Sapiens, but these artifacts were remarkable enough.

At 400,000 years old, the yew-wood (Taxus baccata) Clacton “spear “-fragment* is the
earliest known worked wooden artifact and has appeared in academic articles ever since its
discovery in 1911 by Samuel Hazzledine Warren.

It is a tipped and broken fragment of a larger artifact , and when found was 38,7 cm long,
with a diameter of 3,9 cm and straight. But drying out during the first decades of storage it
shrank to 36,7 cm by 3,7 cm and warped slightly into a curve.

Taxus is a genus of small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are
relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived and reach heights of 2,5-20 m, with trunk
girth averaging 5 m. They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, dark-green leaves 10-40
mm. Yew wood is reddish brown (with whiter sapwood), and is very springy and relatively
soft (but not too soft) according to the Janka hardness test. These qualities have promoted
its use in the production of bows and spears in (pre) historic times. One famous example is
the unfinished bow made of yew wood from the Chalcolithic Tyrolean ice-man (“Ötzi”).
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First suggestions of its purpose included a digging stick, part of a trap, or a weapon for
warding off other scavengers. This mirrored perceptions that early hominins were
scavengers and not hunters. With changing paradigms and regarding the considerable
effort expended in sharpening the tool, removing bark and smoothing the nodes, it became
more probable that the Clacton fragment was indeed part of a thrusting or throwing spear.
McNabb (2007) demonstrated that that the most efficient tool from the associated
Clactonian ensemble, for creating the Clacton spear is the Clactonian notch.

The underlying operational sequence for the Clacton spear fragment speaks for the
presence of a considerable advanced cognitive level of its maker (presumable H.
heidelbergensis).

The recovery of a MIS5e yew wood spear associated with the carcass of a forest elephant
(Palaeoloxodon antiquus) at Lehringen (Lower Saxony) together with 27 Levallois flakes
was made as early as 1948, but introduced into the international discussion only several
decades later. This artifact is a strong argument for active hunting by Neanderthals

Thieme and Veil (1988) showed that this yew stem had been carefully barked, the smaller
branches were removed and that the tips are not exactly in the middle of the axis, but
slightly to the side. Presumably, this technical detail is due to the fact, that the makers did
not want to have the weak point of the medullary ray at the top, because this structure is
the most vulnerable to damage during impact.

Whether humans actually hunted the animal or just killed it when already trapped in the
swamp, remains open to discussion. It was certainly butchered, as is equally attested for an
elephant skeleton found at Gröbern, again at a lake-side, and again along with 27
Levallois artefacts.

The finds from Schöningen Lower Saxony) are of central importance and have completely
redefined the discourse on Lower Paleolithic subsistence. In 1994, Thieme’s team
recovered eight spears in direct association with the bones of over a dozen horses in
deposits dating to ca. 300k.a. (MIS9). This discovery led to a change in paradigms, namely
that Homo before Homo sapiens was a poorly equipped scavenger, the hunted, but not the
hunter.

Schöningen shows a Middle to Late Pleistocene sedimentary succession, locally up to 45

m thick, which has been preserved in an Elsterian tunnel valley. After deglaciation, the
tunnel valley was re-filled during the Holsteinian (MIS9) interglacial. There was a long-lived
interglacial lake which provided at its shores attractive site for animals and humans.

The evaluation of these nearly in-situ embedded Paleo-landscapes at different sites and
under various climatic conditions continues to be conducted by a large international
team.The immense area of 9400 m2 has been excavated until now making Schöningen one
of the key sites for Lower Paleolithic archaeology in central Europe.

My interest in this post is focused on two horizons:

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Schöningen 12 II-1 is situated in the deepest and warmest period of the sedimentary
sequence at the shores of a Paleolake. Excavators recovered flint artifacts and numerous
pieces of wood. Thieme identified several wood artifacts, which he interpreted as hafting
shafts (Thieme, 2007). The importance of hafting and the early use of adhesives has been
discussed elsewhere in this blog (here and there). Numerous carcasses with
anthropogenic cut-marks from large animals were found, noteworthy among them the parts
of a water buffalo (Bubalus murrensis) indicating to climatic conditions warmer than today
in Central Europe.

Schöningen 13 II-4 represents Thieme’s original “Spear Horizon” dating to MIS9 with the
Horse Butchery Site. Of the eight spears, seven are made of spruce (Picea sp.) And one of
pine (Pinus sylvestris). Like the Lehringen spear, the tips of the Schöningen spears are not
exactly in the middle of the axis, but slightly to the side.

Nine of them are interpreted as throwing spears (javelins) and one as a thrusting spear
(lance). This interpretation was suggested from the comparison to ethnographic examples
and the notion that even modern javelins compare very well to the characteristics of the
Paleo-spers. In addition, probably throwing stick and other unspecified wooden artifacts,
nearly 1500 flints and bone tools were found. Numerous remains of horses , and the
remains of at least 10 other species of large mammals complete the extraordinary findings.

Other MIS9 sites at Schöningen are rather low density scatters, sometimes also with
enlightening observations: several sites with only a few artifacts, associated with bones
showing impact scars and cut marks and a nearly complete aurochs (Bos primigenius)
skeleton, associated (?) one flint flake showing use-wear traces.

Last but not least: Very recently Aranguren et al. reported a set of wooden artifacts from a
170 k.a.-old Middle Paleolithic occupation at at Poggetti Vecchi in southern Tuscany
(Italy). Similar to Lehringen the artifacts were preserved in a calcareous mudstone
deposited along a lake margin. Alongside with a Palaeoloxodon antiquus- fauna, the
scientists found associated stone tools and anthropogenic modified wooden artifacts made
of Boxwood, which is among the hardiest and heaviest of European timbers. About
40 sticks, all fragmentary, some over 1 m long, rounded at one end and pointed at the
other, were found. They provide the use of fire by Neanderthals in their fabrication. The
excavators interpreted these sticks as digging sticks- but extended excavations and more
material may change this interpretation.

The invention of Hafting and Backing

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