Wooden hafting technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Abstract

The invention of hafted tools, between about 500 Ka and 250 Ka years ago, was a fundamental technological innovation that has shaped human social, cognitive, and biological capabilities. Despite the recurrent evidence of hafting observed on lithic tools, handles from this period are rare since they were probably made of perishable materials. Three exceptional wooden sticks interpreted as handles have been found in the Poggetti Vecchi site, allowing a deeper investigation of the technical capabilities of the early Neanderthals who frequented the site around 170,000 years ago. The handles and the lithic tools with hafting traces were analysed using a techno-functional approach, suggesting that they could have been attached to each other to create a specific composite hafted tool. The efficiency of the composite hafted tool was tested through a detailed experimental programme. The results highlighted, for the first time, the complex production processes used to create a composite hafted tool that could have been used to butcher the carcases of the large fauna that are well attested at the site.