Use-wear analysis confirms the use of Palaeolithic bone tools by the Lingjing Xuchang early human

Abstract

During 2007–2008 excavations at the Lingjing site near Xuchang, Henan Province, dated back to around 100–80 ka ago, a large quantity of mammalian fossil remains were recovered along with a remarkable cluster of Early Modern Human (EMH) skull fragments in situ. Observably some of those animal bones were probably modified into tools. A use-wear analysis was carried out to examine the functions of modified bone tools. The results suggest that Lingjing bone tools were used for drilling, penetrating, and scraping animal substances, and that some might have been hafted during the use. This study confirms that early existence of intentionally-modified bone tools at human occupations of the early Late Pleistocene in northern China. This discovery suggests making and use of bone tools were inevitably a part of early human behaviors and cultural development, as such of stone tools.