Abstract
Fire use appears to have been relatively common among Neandertals in the Middle Palaeolithic. However, the means by which Neandertals procured their fire—either through the collection of natural fire, or by producing it themselves using tools—is still a matter of debate. We present here the first direct artefactual evidence for regular, systematic fire production by Neandertals. From archaeological layers attributed to late Mousterian industries at multiple sites throughout France, primarily to the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA) technoculture (ca. 50,000 years BP), we identify using microwear analysis dozens of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools that exhibit macroscopic and microscopic traces suggesting repeated percussion and/or forceful abrasion with a hard mineral material. Both the locations and nature of the polish and associated striations are comparable to those obtained experimentally by obliquely percussing fragments of pyrite (FeS2) against the flat/convex sides of a biface to make fire. The striations within these discrete use zones are always oriented roughly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tool, allowing us to rule out taphonomic origins for these traces. We therefore suggest that the occasional use of bifaces as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among the late Neandertals in France.
Highlights
Fire use appears to have been relatively common among Neandertals in the Middle Palaeolithic
Variability in the appearance of traces produced by the same contact material can complicate their assessment both on experimental and archaeological specimens and may be caused by a number of factors: variability between individual rock/mineral types, a contact material behaving differently on different types of flint, variable preservation conditions, or that each archaeological biface was employed in a different series of functions after the mineral use traces were imparted[50]
Numerous Neandertal bifacial tools and bifacial thinning flakes from late MP contexts in France, especially those attributed to the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition, possess macroscopic and microscopic use traces suggesting repeated contact with a mineral material
Summary
Fire use appears to have been relatively common among Neandertals in the Middle Palaeolithic. 50,000 years BP), we identify using microwear analysis dozens of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools that exhibit macroscopic and microscopic traces suggesting repeated percussion and/or forceful abrasion with a hard mineral material. Both the locations and nature of the polish and associated striations are comparable to those obtained experimentally by obliquely percussing fragments of pyrite (FeS2) against the flat/convex sides of a biface to make fire. Due to a corrosive phenomenon called ‘pyrite decay’[19], it is likely that far more pieces have disintegrated after having been discarded This reaction occurs when iron sulphide minerals like pyrite and marcasite oxidize and degrade upon exposure to humid air[20]. It has been postulated that fire making during these periods www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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