Acheulean Research Articles

Assessing the Role of Early “Large Cutting Tools” in Flake Production: an Experimental Comparison of Early Acheulean Handaxe and Oldowan Core Manufacture

ABSTRACT The Acheulean has long been defined by its characteristic large bifacial implements (“Large Cutting Tools”), which appear from its very beginning. While experimental work attests to the usefulness of these tools in heavy-duty cutting tasks, the morphology of these experimental tools is often very different to Early Acheulean forms, with use-wear confirmation of their deployment at this time extremely patchy. This leaves open the potential for other explanations of biface innovation, including that they evolved as a specialized core form. Here, a dedicated methodology for the comparison of Oldowan-like cores and Early Acheulean-like bifaces is presented, alongside a preliminary analysis of changes to core morphology throughout the knapping process. The results highlight some key differences in the metric variables under consideration, that may have implications for later analysis of flake morphology. This paper also serves to discuss potential limitations of the method that could be addressed in future replications.

Not Just Scraping By: Experimental Evidence for Large Cutting Tools in the High Lodge Non-handaxe Industry

The presence or absence of handaxes endures as the major criterion of Lower Palaeolithic classification, with contemporaneous core-and-flake industries modelled as simpler counterparts to Acheulean technology. This is based on the supposed absence of formal tools, particularly of large cutting tools (LCTs) which are understood to be important within Acheulean lifeways, functioning as butchery knives among other uses. Scrapers from the core-and-flake industry of High Lodge (MIS 13) evidence formalised flake-tool production techniques, geared towards large tools with long cutting edges and acute angles, comparable in many respects to Acheulean handaxes. A holistic set of experiments was designed to test the production, efficiency, and practical utility of these scrapers. The experiments compared these scraper forms against handaxes and Quina scrapers. Their use in roe deer butchery indicates functional differences but demonstrates the appropriacy of both large, refined scrapers, and handaxes for processing carcasses of this size. The results support the inclusion of High Lodge scraper forms within the standard definition of LCTs. This interpretation challenges perceived discrepancies between handaxe and non-handaxe industries and deterministic explanations for Acheulean material culture. The feasibility of alternative LCTs supports the argument that the Acheulean represents socially inherited behaviours rather than latent reinventions.

Update and synthesis of the available archaeological and geochronological data for the Lower Paleolithic site of Loreto at Venosa (Basilicata, Italy)

Abstract In the Basilicata region, located in southern Italy and known for hosting among the first occurrences of the Acheulean culture in southwestern Europe, the Lower Paleolithic site of Loreto at Venosa is located less than a kilometer from the emblematic site of Notarchirico and less than 25 km from Cimitero di Atella. The Loreto site has not been studied as thoroughly as the two other sites and, although geological investigations have been carried out in the Venosa basin, no direct numerical dating has ever been published for the three archaeological levels brought to light during the excavation campaigns. We present a multi-method geochronological approach combining ESR/U-series, ESR, and 40Ar/39Ar permitting to refine the age of the most ancient archaeological level (A) of the Loreto site. These data allow us to propose an MIS 13 age for this level, in accordance with previous hypotheses based on geological and paleontological data. We also propose a technical review of the lithic tools preserved in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Venosa to integrate Loreto in the evolution scheme of the European Acheulean techno-complex emergence and diffusion.

Late Quaternary human-environment relationship in the Ganga Plain, India

Here, we present the first-ever attempt to combine palaeoenvironmental records (n = 17) from dated stratigraphic sequences with Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial modelling of archaeological sites (3 phases; n = 306 sites) in the Ganga Plain. The spatial modelling assesses the distribution of archaeological sites and phases on maps showing changing elevation, geology, geomorphology, biome, and rainfall variability within the Ganga Plain, aiming to evaluate the human-environment relationship during the Late Quaternary Period.The compilation of oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition (δ18O and δD values) and pollen-based environment reconstructions for the last ∼100 ka indicates high rainfall conditions during ∼100–75 ka, ∼10–5 ka, and ∼3.6–1.3 ka. Fluctuating rainfall conditions were observed during ∼75–25 ka and ∼18–15 ka, while the period from ∼25 to 18 ka was the weakest monsoon phase, marking the Last Glacial Maximum. Arid conditions were also observed during ∼15–10 ka and ∼5–3.6 ka. The archaeological review suggests the presence of the Acheulian culture, diverse Mesolithic cultures, and the Neolithic phase marked by advanced agriculture and pottery production in the Ganga Plain. The past environmental analyses show changes in settlement areas correlating with rainfall variations. Frequent climate changes and increasing population density during the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene boundary probably forced prehistoric humans to adopt agricultural practices. The distribution of archaeological sites representing different cultural phases on the modern spatial maps of landscape variability (e.g., elevation, rainfall, geomorphology, and geology) reflects an intricate relationship between prehistoric human settlements, monsoonal rainfall, and climate-driven landform processes.Our assessment suggests that the integration of archaeological sites, geological mapping, vegetation analysis, and palaeoclimate records has the potential to provide valuable insights into ancient human-environment interactions. Therefore, we recommend continued interdisciplinary research in these fields to further enhance our knowledge of prehistoric societies and their responses to changing landscapes and climates in the Ganga Plain.

Regional extinction(s) but continental persistence in European Acheulean culture

Abstract Traces of early hominin cultural dynamics are revealed through the spatial and temporal character of the archaeological record. In the European Lower Palaeolithic, biface occurrences provide insights into episodes of cultural loss, persistence and convergence during the Acheulean, the longest known prehistoric cultural phenomenon. Here, the cohesiveness of Europe’s Acheulean record is statistically assessed under multiple spatial scenarios. Repeated cycles of cultural loss are identified in northern Europe, while southern Europe is demonstrated to have a continuous record of Acheulean presence. These data support longstanding hypotheses concerning an absence of Acheulean populations in northern Europe during glacial periods – a result that should increasingly be applied with caution. In southern Europe, Iberia displays the loss of Acheulean cultural information between c. 850 and 500 thousand years ago, with the Italian peninsula potentially acting as a source population for its later reintroduction. When investigated at a continental-level there are no clear episodes of cultural loss. Current evidence therefore suggests that once Acheulean cultural information was introduced to Europe, it never wholly left.

보이지 않는 선 지우기

Hallam Movius is the most cited and controversial scholar among East Asian Paleolithic researchers. Criticisms of the Movius theory that have been raised so far have often been developed in such a way that the ‘Movius line’ is not valid because there are ‘Acheulean (type) handaxes’ in East Asia and Southeast Asia. However, it is not so easy to clearly answer the question, ‘To what extent does it resemble a true Acheulean hand axe?’ Therefore, rather than examining the validity of the Movius theory through ‘formal similarity’, this study attempted to criticize the Movius theory at a more fundamental level by retracing the genealogy of the core theories that form the intellectual foundation of the Movius theory. The analysis revealed that the Movius theory is based on the ‘old intellectual legacy’ of modern Western academia that is no longer accepted by current academic circles. Theories that Movius relied on, such as Transformisme, Orthogenesis, Presapien theory, and Alpine glacial chronology, have now been discarded in the natural science and archaeology communities, and the culture-historical archaeology is also a controversial methodology in terms of its validity. In other words, considering the current level of academia, the intellectual foundation theories of the Movius doctrine are anachronistic. Therefore, the Movius model, which logically stands against old theories and concepts that no longer have a future, cannot help but be evaluated as anachronistic. Recent research has revealed that Movius’ survey of the Burma region had several critical stratigraphic errors and that there were also problems with stone tool determination. The basis of the Movius line is uncertain in that Movius built his theory based on uncertain data. Bifacial processing technology is a phenomenon that appears universally in the Old Continent, and is not a special phenomenon that appears only in certain regions such as Africa and Europe. However, we cannot lump them all together and name them ‘Acheulean’. This is because so much technological diversity is hidden within the morphological unity of ‘bifaces.’ From that perspective, the ‘Movius Line’ not only has no substance, but also fails to properly explain the Paleolithic culture of East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the Paleolithic culture of Europe and Africa. Therefore, the insubstantial Movius line should be discarded.

Revisiting the “Mahadevian”: A Typo-technological Reanalysis of the Lithic Assemblages of Mahadeo Piparia, Central Narmada Basin, Madhya Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT Mahadeo Piparia, an open-air Palaeolithic site, is considered as a possible Mode 1 techno-complex. It is the type-site for the “Mahadevian” pebble-tool complex, a possible root for an indigenous evolution of the South Asian Acheulean tradition. Later work suggested a secondary and mixed context for the assemblage, including elements from a pebble-tool complex, a handaxe complex and the “Middle Stone Age”. However, no extensive techno-typological analyses have been attempted on these assemblages. This work reinvestigates all available historical collections, employing typo-technological and chaîne opératoire approaches, and supplemented by more recent collections. This paper, thus, updates our understanding of these historical collections in light of recent theoretical and methodological developments, helps augment and contextualize previous interpretations, and enables the inclusion of this “classic” techno-complex into ongoing discussions regarding the South Asian Palaeolithic. Further, it seeks to contextualize the historiography of work undertaken at the site, providing a foundation for ongoing work.

Местонахождения раннего палеолита на 145-метровой террасе реки Усиша в Центральном Дагестане

The article considers the characteristics of the stone inventory from the sites Ainikab 3, Ainikab 4 and Ainikab 6 of the Early Paleolithic located on the 145-meter terrace of the Usisha River in Central Dagestan. Based on the generalization of paleogeographic data, the age of the terrace deposits has been established in a wide range within the first half of the Middle Pleistocene. The stone industries of the sites are mono raw material, based on the use of local Cretaceous flint of various shades of gray. Knapping of raw materials is characterized by the simplest methods of obtaining flakes mainly by unidirectional longitudinal removal without preliminary cores preparation. Flakes were the main type of blanks for tools, including for large cutting, splitting and crushing tools. In addition, flint fragments and nodules were used as blanks. The tools include unifacial and bifacial choppers, heavy-duty picks of triangular cross-section or a pointed end, flat picks, various retouched tools on flakes and fragments (scrapers, knives, notched tools, points, retouched flakes). The most significant feature of the industry under consideration, which distinguishes it from the older Oldowan complexes of Central Dagestan, is the presence of archaic forms of bifaсes in the tool set. These finds are the earliest known bifaсes in inner Dagestan and one of the oldest in the North Caucasus. The bifaсes are diagnostic for Acheulean. The presence of these tools together with piсks and other cutting tools in the stone inventory of the sites makes it possible to define the stone industry of these sites as Acheulean. These finds make it possible to include the inner Dagestan in the spread area of the Acheulean culture of the North Caucasus thereby expanding its territory.

Early-Middle Acheulean Occupation of the Northern Transcaucasian Highland

In the northern part of the Transcaucasian Highland (Lori Depression, Armenia), three stratifi ed sites dating to the Early-Middle Acheulean—Karakhach, Kurtan I, and Muradovo—have long been subject to archaeological studies. On the basis of absolute dates and paleomagnetic records relating to the fi rst two sites, their age falls in the interval between the mid-Early and initial Middle Pleistocene. All three sites yielded a uniform industry with a peculiar toolset (various choppers, picks including chisel-ended ones, handaxes, large scrapers, macro-chisels, and macro-knives), manufactured mostly on natural tabular fragments of local volcanic rocks. Certain indicators of this industry, such as subrectangular and fan-shaped choppers, slab-like chisels, etc., are described. Information on 28 other localities with Acheulean artifacts, including 11 stratifi ed ones, recently discovered in various parts of the Lori Depression and in adjacent areas of the Shirak Depression and the Debed River valley, is provided. It is demonstrated that the lithics from all these sites belong to the Karakhach tradition. Data are cited suggesting that three sites (Yagdan, Agvi-canyon, and Agvorik) are over 2 mln years old, and two more (Kurtan II and Dzhradzor) are at least 1.5 mln years old. It is concluded that people associated with the Karakhach Acheulean tradition had appeared in the northern Transcaucasian Highland ~2.0 Ma BP, then settled widely in this area, and remained there for several hundred thousand years. In my view, this may be explained by the very favorable environmental conditions of the region during the Early Pleistocene, and by the abundance of large rock fragments suitable for tool manufacture.

The Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic Sites of Dulung River Valley, Eastern India

Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic periods are considered two of the most important phases of human’s cultural evolution. The Indian subcontinent is one of the few places where the earliest evidence of both the Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic periods have been found. In this article, preliminary observations on 28 recently discovered Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic sites in the Dulung River valley of the eastern part of India are described. The sites have been found by intensive foot surveys conducted in the last two years. The Lower Palaeolithic sites are mostly found in the ferricrete deposits of the uplands of this region, whereas Microlithic sites are found deposited in the latosol/oxisol horizons of the badlands of this region. Among recovered Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, Acheulean Handaxes appear to be dominant. Recovered microliths are fewer in number, but they are fresh in condition. The results of this study give a more clear understanding of the distribution of the earliest human cultures in Eastern India.

Acheulean Handaxes in Medieval France: An Earlier ‘Modern’ Social History for Palaeolithic Bifaces

Handaxes have a uniquely prominent role in the history of Palaeolithic archaeology, and their early study provides crucial information concerning the epistemology of the field. We have little conclusive evidence, however, of their investigation or societal value prior to the mid seventeenth century. Here we investigate the shape, colour and potential flake scarring on a handaxe-like stone object seen in the Melun Diptych, painted by the French fifteenth-century artist Jean Fouquet, and compare its features with artefacts from diverse (including French) Acheulean handaxe assemblages. Commissioned by a high-status individual, Étienne Chevalier, Fouquet's work (Étienne Chevalier with Saint Stephen) depicts an important religious context, while the handaxe-like object points to the stoning to death of an important Christian saint. Our results strongly support the interpretation that the painted stone object represents a flint Acheulean handaxe, likely sourced from northern France, where Fouquet lived. Identifying a fifteenth-century painting of a handaxe does not change what we know about Acheulean individuals, but it does push back the evidence for when handaxes became a prominent part of the ‘modern’ social and cultural world.

중국 바이써(Baise) 분지 주먹도끼의 발견과 성격

This paper collates information on the current status of investigations and related handaxes in the Baise Basin over the last 50 years, focusing on the Fengshudao site, through a metrological analysis of handaxes Type,Shape, size, lithology and other attributes) and other areas (other sites in the Baise Basin, the Luonan Basin, the Imjin/Hantan River Basins , the Geum River Basin, the Yeongsan River Basin, the Acheulian handaxes in the western Old World) for comparative analysis and to understand their nature.
 The Baise handaxe belongs to the pebble industry in southern China. Because its cultural attributes include Acheulean technology, it occupies a pivotal position in the pebble culture of southern China and Asia. From its discovery in the early 1970s to the present, in the past 50 years, relevant investigations and research have achieved scientific research results, which have attracted widespread attention from the international academic community. Therefore, Chinese academic circles have also begun to discuss the ‘Movius line’. At present, there are 41 sites containing handaxes in the Baise Basin, and a total of 499 handaxes have been found. Among them, 11 were excavated from strata, and the rest were collected from the surface.
 The Fengshudao handaxes were basically made from large flakes and pebbles, with three types of stone: sandstone, quartzite and igneous rock. The sandstone is the most abundant and has the most stable ‘broadness’(B/L) and ‘flatness’(Th/B). According to the results of the metrological analysis, the ‘broadness’ (B/L) and ‘flatness’ (Th/B) indices of the Fengshudao handaxes are relatively high, and the ‘Pointness’ (B1/B2) index is relatively low. A comparison with other sites in the Baise Basin, the Luonan Basin, the Imjin/Hantan River Basins , the Geum River Basin, the Yeongsan River Basin, the Acheulian handaxes in the western Old World Acheulean handaxe shows that the Fengshudao handaxe is broader, thicker and has a more pointed base. In terms of industrial assemblages, handaxes and picks are common forms of assemblage in the Baise Basin, while Cleavers are rare, which is a clear difference from the Acheulian industry of the western Old World.

The Proceduralization of Hominin Knapping Skill: Memorizing Different Lithic Technologies

Reconstructing the technical and cognitive abilities of past hominins requires an understanding of how skills like stone toolmaking were learned and transmitted. We ask how much of the variability in the uptake of knapping skill is due to the characteristics of the knapping sequences themselves? Fundamental to skill acquisition is proceduralization, the process whereby skilful tasks are converted from declarative memories (consciously memorized facts and events) into procedural memories (sub-consciously memorized actions) via repetitive practice. From knapping footage, we time and encode each action involved in discoidal, handaxe, Levallois and prismatic blade production. The structure and complexity of these reduction sequences were quantified using k-mer analysis and Markov chains. The amount of time spent on tasks and the pattern of core rotations revealed portions of these reduction sequences that are predisposed to being converted into procedural memories. We observed two major pathways to achieve this proceduralization: either a repetitive or a predictable sequence of core rotations. Later Acheulean handaxes and Levallois knapping involved a predictable platform selection sequence, while prismatic blade knapping involved a repetitive exploitation of platforms. Technologies and the portions of their reduction sequence that lend themselves to proceduralization probably facilitated the more rapid uptake of stone toolmaking skill.

Differential effects of knapping skill acquisition on the cultural reproduction of Late Acheulean handaxe morphology: Archaeological and experimental insights

Despite the extensive literature focusing on Acheulean handaxes, especially the sources and meaning of their morphological variability, many aspects of this topic remain elusive. Archaeologists cite several factors that contribute to handaxe morphological variability, including knapping skill and mental templates. Integrating these two lines of literature into a broader theoretical framework of cultural reproduction, here we present new results from a multidisciplinary study of Late Acheulean handaxe-making skill acquisition involving thirty naïve participants trained for up to 90 h in Late Acheulean style handaxe production and three expert knappers. We compare the experimental handaxe shapes to the Late Acheulean handaxe assemblage from Boxgrove, UK. Through the principal component analysis of morphometric data derived from images, our study suggested that knapping skill acquisition has a differential effect on the cultural reproduction of different aspects of handaxe morphology. More specifically, compared with elongation and pointedness (PC2), cross-sectional thinning (PC1) is more constrained by knapping skill. Our findings thus shed new light on how skill learning can bias the cultural reproduction of artifact morphology.

Could woodworking have influenced variation in the form of Acheulean handaxes?

AbstractThe relationship between tool form and function is fundamental to hominin behaviour and evolution. Acheulean handaxes are known for their general consistency across more than a million years and three continents, albeit with some variation in size and shape. However, the influence of this variation on cutting has only rarely been studied, mostly in either butchery or generalized cutting tasks. Yet evidence indicates that handaxes were used for woodworking by at least 1.5 mya. Here, we experimentally tested whether woodworking could have exerted selective pressures on handaxe form. Additionally, these data were compared with a previous experiment that tested flakes during woodworking. For handaxes, no significant relationships were detected in woodworking efficiency. Accordingly, woodworking likely did not exert strong selective pressures on handaxe variability. However, the effectiveness shown by handaxes further demonstrates the functional flexibility of this technology, which is likely a factor contributing to their use over broad temporal, geographical and ecological spans. When comparing handaxes with flakes, only the smallest flakes were found to be significantly less efficient than handaxes. Therefore, the functional demands of woodworking were likely influencing hominin technological decisions about flake morphology, or the selection of flakes for woodworking, more than they were handaxe morphology.

The fallow deer Dama celiae sp. nov. with two-pointed antlers from the Middle Pleistocene of Madrid, a contemporary of humans with Acheulean technology

We describe fossils of a new species of fallow deer, Dama celiae. It is the end member of the lineage Dama farnetensis–D. vallonnetensis–D. roberti–D. celiae, which reduced the number of points of the antler from four to two, while the parallel lineage leading to the living fallow deer evolved more complex and palmate antlers. The fossils are from localities Pedro Jaro I and Orcasitas in the + 25–30-m terrace of the Manzanares river, which is correlated to MIS9 (337–300 ka) and which also yielded fossils of Megaloceros matritensis, a recently named species, end member of a lineage that survived longer than previously believed. A younger terrace of the Manzanares yielded remains of Haploidoceros, a rare deer known from two older localities in southern France and one younger locality in Spain. So many rare deer species in this valley indicates either endemism and a very special environment or that the record of fossil deer is much less known than generally assumed. Until recently, the European Middle Pleistocene record of deer had only one middle-sized species at a time. Now, it appears that there were up to three contemporaneous species of the size of a fallow deer. Acheulean lithic assemblages have been documented from the same sites as Dama celiae. This species was contemporaneous to Neanderthals with Acheulean culture. Cut marks suggest that it was consumed by them and probably was hunted.

A marine isotope stage 13 Acheulian sequence from the Amanzi Springs Area 2 Deep Sounding excavation, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Renewed research at Amanzi Springs has increased resolution on the timing and technology of the Acheulian industry in South Africa. The archeology from the Area 1 spring eye has recently been dated to MIS 11 (∼404–390 ka), and analyses revealed significant technological variability when compared to other southern African Acheulian assemblages. We expand on these results in presenting new luminescence dating and technological analyses of Acheulian stone tools from three artifact-bearing surfaces exposed within the White Sands unit of the Deep Sounding excavation in the Area 2 spring eye. The two lowest surfaces (Surfaces 3 and 2) are sealed within the White Sands and dated between ∼534 to 496 ka and ∼496 to 481 ka (MIS 13), respectively. Surface 1 represents materials deflated onto an erosional surface that cut the upper part of the White Sands (∼481 ka; late MIS 13), which occurred before the deposition of younger Cutting 5 sediments (<408–<290 ka; MIS 11–8). Archaeological comparisons reveal that the older Surface 3 and 2 assemblages are predominated by unifacial and bifacial core reduction and relatively thick, cobble-reduced large cutting tools. In contrast, the younger Surface 1 assemblage is characterized by discoidal core reduction and thinner large cutting tools, mostly made from flake blanks. Typological similarities between the older Area 2 White Sands and younger Area 1 (404–390 ka; MIS 11) assemblages further suggest long-term continuity in site function. We hypothesize Amanzi Springs represent a workshop locality that Acheulian hominins repeatedly visited to access unique floral, faunal, and raw material resources from at least ∼534 to 390 ka.

Late Acheulean Handaxes from Northeastern Caucasus: Morphology and Technology

We describe the variability of morphological and technological features of handaxes from two culturally and chronologically consecutive Acheulean assemblages of Dagestan, Northeastern Caucasus. The early one, dating to MIS 11–10, is represented by three sites: Darvagchay-Zaliv-1 (complex IV, layer 3), Darvagchay-Zaliv-4 (layer 5), and Darvagchay-Zaliv-2. The late complex, dating to MIS 7, includes the sites of Darvagchay-Zaliv-1 (complex IV, layer 2), Darvagchay-Zaliv-4 (layer 3), and Darvagchay-Karier. We examine analogies from other Acheulean sites in the Caucasus. Two-dimensional geometric-morphometric analysis was used to study the shape of tools from Dagestan. The findings suggest that the shape of unifacial tools is the same as that of Ьifaces. The comparison of tools from two cultural and chronological horizons, including those from contemporaneous sites in the Caucasus, indicates a higher variability in earlier tools. Based on the scar pattern analysis, three chaînes opératoires in manufacturing handaxes were reconstructed. Tools of the later complex had been subjected to a more thorough reduction than those of the early complex. Technological continuity was traced over a considerable timespan (MIS 11–7). It was manifested in the standardization of bifacial shape and the gradual sophistication of chaînes opératoires. Given the high morphological homogeneity of tools from Dargvachay complexes and other contemporaneous industries of the Caucasus, it can be suggested that these technological tendencies are characteristic of the entire Caucasus.

Роль культурных факторов в формообразовании каменных орудий в раннем Палеолите

Introduction. The original stone industries of the Early Paleolithic, produced by the earliest hominins and known as the Oldowan (~2.6-1.0 Ma), are characterized by rather primitive stone-working techniques and a very simple set of tools that show the intentional design of only workers and accommodators. elements. These industries have changed little in time and space and are not subdivided into variants due to cultural factors.Materials and Methods: The main sources of the work were massive historical documents related to the development of technology and protodesign in the early Paleolithic.Results. The Acheulean industries, which were made more advanced by early people, are distinguished by the appearance of more complex technologies and a whole range of tools of various shapes and purposes. Throughout the Acheulian era (~2.0-0.2 million years ago), these industries gradually developed, and also divided into local groups with specific technological repertoire and tool forms, which were almost completely modeled by ancient craftsmen according to their preferences and reproduced over time. This means the emergence of proto-design and cultural traditions, which are most reflected in the forms of the most important large tools, primarily the axe.Conclusion. Persistent tool patterns in different Acheulean industries can be seen as cultural types that mark distinct traditions. There are also individual samples of axes, the anomalous dimensions of which, along with extremely careful processing and some peculiarities of the form, suggest that they were not so much tools as some kind of symbolic objects that played a certain role in the cultural practices of different populations of the Acheulean people.

Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK

The exceptional survival of Middle Pleistocene wooden spears at Schöningen (Germany) and Clacton-on-Sea (UK) provides tantalizing evidence for the widespread use of organic raw materials by early humans. At Clacton, less well-known organic artefacts include modified bones that were identified by the Abbé Henri Breuil in the 1920s. Some of these pieces were described and figured by Hazzledine Warren in his classic 1951 paper on the flint industry from the Clacton Channel, but they have been either overlooked in subsequent studies or dismissed as the product of natural damage. We provide the first detailed analysis of two Clactonian bone tools found by Warren and a previously unrecognized example recovered in 1934 during excavations directed by Mary Leakey. Microscopic examination of percussion damage suggests the bones were used as knapping hammers to shape or resharpen flake tools. Early Palaeolithic bone tools are exceedingly rare, and the Clacton examples are the earliest known organic knapping hammers associated with a core-and-flake (Mode 1) lithic technology. The use of soft hammers for knapping challenges the consensus that Clactonian flintknapping was undertaken solely with hard hammerstones, thus removing a major technological and behavioural difference used to distinguish the Clactonian from late Acheulean handaxe (Mode 2) industries.