Doctoral Dissertation Research: Standardized bone tools: investigating a new technology in the Middle Paleolithic

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

The emergence of behaviorally modern humans, approximately 50,000 years ago, amid multiple other Late Pleistocene hominin groups has been of great interest to the general public in recent years, as evidenced by many popular science articles and television programs. A key focus of Paleolithic archaeological and anthropological research is the study of the origin of modern human behaviors, including cognitive and behavioral similarities and differences between our species and our closest relative, the Neandertals. Much evidence suggests that the Neandertal and modern human populations that overlapped geographically and chronologically exhibited similar behaviors. Ultimately, however, modern human populations replaced Neandertals, but the mechanisms behind Neandertal extinction remain a subject of continued debate. This project considers the implications for standardized bone tool technology in Neandertal contexts. This particular technology may have been innovated by Neandertals, passed by acculturation from modern humans to Neandertals, or, conversely, learned by modern humans from Neandertals. The data collected from this project will provide an independent line of evidence that will contribute to the discussions on the nature of cognition related to technology, the relationship between Neandertals and modern humans, and the understanding of Neandertal extinction. The significant international collaborative component of this project will bring various viewpoints (more traditional and more technology-driven approaches) together to form a cohesive research program. Additionally, this project will establish new methodological approaches for research on bone tools by combining traditional qualitative with innovative quantitative analyses. Ultimately, this project will contribute to the understanding of hominin behavior through a detailed analysis of bone tools before and after the replacement of Neandertals by modern humans. This project by PhD candidate Naomi L. Martisius (University of California, Davis), under the supervision of Dr. Teresa E. Steele, will build a research program around the study of recently described Neandertal-made bone tools, called lissoirs (a French term meaning "smoothers"), and investigates their potential function and innovation through experimental and comparative research. This discovery shows that Neandertals were capable of producing standardized bone tools, a technology previously thought to have been restricted to modern humans. This research will assess modern human-made lissoirs to understand the extent of their variation in relation to function within these tools, engaging in experimental and comparative research to investigate raw material selection, if ribs were pre-shaped or shaped through use, and how they were used through an innovative approach to study the traces left on bones through use, and an attempt to identify additional pieces from other Neandertal assemblages to determine their temporal span. Clear, demonstrable production and use of standardized bone technology by Neandertals will transform understanding of their behavior and the relationship between Neandertals and modern humans.