Abstract
Stone tools provide a unique window into the mode of adaptation and cognitive abilities of Lower Paleolithic early humans. The persistently produced large cutting tools (bifaces/handaxes) have long been an appealing focus of research in the reconstruction of Lower Paleolithic survival strategies, at the expenses of the small flake tools considered by-products of the stone production process rather than desired end products. Here, we use use-wear, residues and technological analyses to show direct and very early evidence of the deliberate production and use of small flakes for targeted stages of the prey butchery process at the late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim, Israel. We highlight the significant role of small flakes in Lower Paleolithic adaptation alongside the canonical large handaxes. Our results demonstrate the technological and cognitive flexibility of early human groups in the Levant and beyond at the threshold of the departure from Lower Paleolithic lifeways.
Highlights
In the Levant, the Acheulian cultural complex persisted for over one million years and is the main human mode of adaptation of the Lower Paleolithic period[1], a long and successful epoch of fundamental transformations in human behavioral and biological evolution[2,3]
The late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore for the first time the production and use of small flake tool-kits produced by means of lithic recycling[14]
Using an integrated experimental framework and a use wear and residue study, we were able to identify the role small flakes played within the entire butchery process
Summary
In the Levant, the Acheulian cultural complex persisted for over one million years (ca 1,400,000 to 400,000 years ago) and is the main human mode of adaptation of the Lower Paleolithic period[1], a long and successful epoch of fundamental transformations in human behavioral and biological evolution[2,3]. The discovery of these varied tool-kits consisting of large and small flakes[6,12] (while handaxes were not always present6,13) has led to recent attempts to technologically reconstruct small flake production to better understand the role of these tiny tools[6,7,8,9] In this context, the late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore for the first time the production and use of small flake tool-kits produced by means of lithic recycling[14] (for details see Supplementary materials). PDSM are usually isolated, with uncommon shapes and distribution (Fig. 2a) and, in case of excavation damages, the edge appears freshly chipped with a different coloration from the surrounding patinated surface (Fig. 2b,c)
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