A retouched bone shaft from the Late Mousterian at Fumane cave (Italy). Technological, experimental and micro-wear analysis

Abstract

This paper describes a retouched bone shaft found in a Late Mousterian layer at Fumane Cave, northern Italy. The interpretation of the anthropic nature of the retouch is based on the identification of specific morpho-technological markers through experimentation. An integrated taphonomic and technological analysis was applied to the archaeological artifact. The evidence suggests that the bone shaft modifications involved the use of direct percussion through a transfer of technical knowledge from flint knapping. However, this does not necessarily imply that this technique was used in the absence of a more effective one. Similar cases of the use of bone as raw material for tool manufacturing are documented in the Lower Palaeolithic, and might have been related to the lack of appropriate lithic raw material, although this is not the case for Fumane cave.