Palaeolithic Bone Research Articles

Early Paleoindian use of canids, felids, and hares for bone needle production at the La Prele site, Wyoming, USA.

We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles. Archaeologists have used the tailored, fur-fringed garments of high latitude foragers as modern analogs for the clothes of Paleolithic foragers, arguing that the appearance of bone needles and fur bearer remains in archaeological sites c. 40,000 BP is indirect evidence for the advent of tailored garments at this time. These garments partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas ca. 14,500 BP. Despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal, archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation. We use Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning to establish that bone needles at the ca. 12,900 BP La Prele site (Wyoming, USA) were produced from the bones of canids, felids, and hares. We propose that these bones were used by the Early Paleoindian foragers at La Prele because they were scaled correctly for bone needle production and readily available within the campsite, having remained affixed to pelts sewn into complex garments. Combined with a review of comparable evidence from other North American Paleoindian sites, our results suggest that North American Early Paleoindians had direct access to fur-bearing predators, likely from trapping, and represent some of the most detailed evidence yet discovered for Paleoindian garments.

The role of individual decision-making in the manufacturing of bone retouchers

Bone retouchers, while often underrated, stand out as widespread tools throughout the Palaeolithic, typically linked to breaking bones for marrow extraction. Although bone retouchers are commonly considered a by-product of butchering activities, the possibility of intentional manufacturing has been rarely considered but should not be dismissed. In our experimental protocol, we explore decision-making processes involved in manufacturing bone retouchers, focusing on how these decisions are guided by intentional production rather than solely marrow extraction. The results indicate that individuals employ specific techniques and make technological decisions, rapidly acquiring experience in retoucher manufacturing that extends beyond mere intuition. The choice of bone-breaking technique(s) reflects the intention behind either marrow extraction or producing suitable bone fragments for retouchers. This decision-making process is heavily influenced by the morphology of the bone, presenting challenges that individuals learn to overcome during the experiment. The analysis of the experimental percussion marks suggests that certain marks on specific skeletal elements indicate intentional bone retoucher manufacturing. We then propose a likelihood grid to assess the reliability of traces on each skeletal element in inferring intentional manufacturing. Given the abundance of bone retouchers in Middle Palaeolithic contexts, a thorough investigation into the intentionality behind their manufacturing processes could significantly impact their relevance within other Palaeolithic bone industries.

Late Gravettian lithic finds from Felsőtárkány-Peskő Cave, Northern Hungary

Peskő Cave near Felsőtárkány (North Hungarian Mountains) is known for its Early Upper Palaeolithic bone industry found in the lower layer of its sediments in the early 20th century. Besides the points, a small amount of lithics were found in the Pleistocene stratum. Two archaeological horizons were identified. The lower two layers were classified as Aurignacian and the upper two ones Magdalénian. The Aurignacian included a few retouched blades, while the Magdalénian was never published. In the second half of the 20th century, the Magdalénian was reclassified as ‘Pilisszántó culture’ or ‘Cave Gravettian’, dated to the Late Glacial period. After the replacement of ‘Pilisszántó culture’ with the term Epigravettian in the 1980s the ‘Magdalénian’ layer of Peskő Cave fell out of research focus. Our research found that the automatic conversion of Pilisszántó culture finds to Epigravettian did not work and the finds at Peskő belong to the Late Gravettian.

Bone tools, carnivore chewing and heavy percussion: assessing conflicting interpretations of Lower and Upper Palaeolithic bone assemblages.

The use of bone tools by early humans has provided valuable insights into their technology, behaviour and cognitive abilities. However, identifying minimally modified or unshaped Palaeolithic osseous tools can be challenging, particularly when they are mixed with bones altered by natural taphonomic processes. This has hampered the study of key technical innovations, such as the use of bones, antlers and teeth as hammers or pressure-flakers to work (knap) stone tools. Bones chewed by carnivores can resemble osseous knapping tools and have sometimes been mistaken for them. In this paper, we review recent advances in the study of osseous knapping tools with a focus on two Palaeolithic sites in the UK, the Acheulean Horse Butchery Site at Boxgrove and the Magdalenian site of Gough's Cave, where knapping tools were mis-attributed to carnivore chewing. These osseous knapping tools are investigated using microscopy, high-resolution imaging and comparisons with experimental knapping tools. This allows for new insights into human behaviour at these sites and opens fresh avenues for future research.

Identification and tentative removal of collagen glue in Palaeolithic worked bone objects: implications for ZooMS and radiocarbon dating

Collagen glue has been used for nearly two centuries to consolidate bone material, although its prevalence in museum collections is only now becoming visible. Identifying and removing collagen glue is crucial before the execution of any geochemical or molecular analyses. Palaeolithic bone objects from old excavations intended for radiocarbon dating were first analysed using ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) to identify the animal species, however peaks characteristic of both cattle and whale were discovered. Two extraction methods for ZooMS were tested to identify the authentic animal species of these objects, which revealed that these were originally whale bone objects that had been consolidated with cattle collagen glue. This is the first time animal collagen glue has been identified in archaeological remains with ZooMS, illustrating again the incredible versatility of this technique. Another technique, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in Attenuated Total Reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR), was also tested if it could rapidly identify the presence of collagen glue in archaeological bone material, which was not the case. Two other cleaning methods were tested to remove bone glue contamination prior to radiocarbon dating, along with two modified collagen extraction methods for ZooMS. These methods were applied to bone blank samples (FmC = 0.0031 ± 0.0002, (n = 219), 47 336 ± 277 yr BP) that were experimentally consolidated with collagen glue and to the Palaeolithic bone material (ca. 15 000 and 12 000 yr BP). The experimental bone blanks produced excellent 14C ages, suggesting the cleaning methods were successful, however the 14C ages for some of the Palaeolithic material remained too young considering their contextual age, suggesting that the collagen glue contamination had most likely cross-linked to the authentic collagen molecule. More research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the occurrence and elimination of cross-linked collagen-based glues in material from museum collections.

The bird remains from La Crouzade Cave (Gruissan, Aude): The mixed origin of a Middle Palaeolithic bone accumulation

The bird remains from La Crouzade Cave (Gruissan, Aude): The mixed origin of a Middle Palaeolithic bone accumulation

TESTING THE USE OF XAD RESIN TO REMOVE SYNTHETIC CONTAMINATION FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL BONE PRIOR TO RADIOCARBON DATING

ABSTRACTMuseum collections are extremely valuable sources of material for ongoing research, although the conservation history of some objects is not always recorded, which can be problematic for chemical analyses. While most contamination is removed using the acid-base-acid treatment, this may not be the case for cross-linked contamination. The XAD resin protocol was implemented at the radiocarbon (14C) laboratory in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, and the setup was tested using known age bone samples and a consolidated Palaeolithic bone. Known age samples were consolidated with shellac or Paraloid, aged for a month, treated with or without the XAD resin and 14C dated. Bone blank results showed that XAD resin was able to remove shellac, which was not the case for the ABA-only method. Results from VIRI I were more variable and VIRI F was possibly too young to show the effects of the consolidants. Two 14C dates on the Palaeolithic bone after XAD treatment are statistically the same, while a sample without XAD treatment was significantly older, suggesting that the contaminant was not fully removed by the ABA-only treatment. This study demonstrates the potential of the XAD treatment to clean heritage bone samples stored in museums prior to geochemical analyses.

Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottés and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and an underrepresentation of aurochs/bison (Bos/Bison) and horse/European ass (Equus) at Les Cottés and La Ferrassie. Together with an increase in the relative diversity of the faunal composition, these results have implications for the interpretation of subsistence strategies during a period of possible interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, shifts in faunal community composition and in carnivore activity suggest a change in the interaction between humans and carnivores across the MUPT and indicate a possible difference in site use between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The combined use of traditional and biomolecular methods allows (zoo)archaeologists to tackle some of the methodological limits commonly faced during the morphological assessment of Palaeolithic bone assemblages.

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.

Old design – New material: An early Final Palaeolithic bone projectile point from Bärenkeller cave site (Thuringia, Germany), and its implications for the evolution of osseous armatures and the environmental development in Lateglacial Central Europe

The transition from the late Pleniglacial to the Lateglacial in Central Europe brought about fundamental transformations of hunter-gatherer ways of life. Linked to profound climatic and environmental changes, the Late Upper Palaeolithic represented by the Magdalenian comes to an end, and the Final Palaeolithic represented by the Federmesser-Gruppen starts. This cultural shift between 13 and 12 ka cal. BC is particularly evident in lithic hunting armature, with frontally-hafted points gaining in importance to the detriment of laterally hafted backed bladelets. The changes in osseous projectile weaponry are still poorly understood. A double-bevelled projectile point made of red deer or elk bone from Bärenkeller cave site in Central Germany was radiocarbon-dated to the second half of GI-1e and is thus contemporary with the early Final Palaeolithic attested in the region. Together with already known, condiderably younger specimens from Northern Germany and Central Poland, this finding shows that the concept of double-bevelled osseous points survived the end of the Magdalenian and coexisted with lithic points and osseous barbed points during the Lateglacial. The rapid faunal exchange in the Central European low mountain range, however, required a much earlier shift from reindeer antler as the primary resource to other large cervids than in the lowlands to the north.

Beyond the main function: An experimental study of the use of hardwood boomerangs in retouching activities.

Retouched lithic tools result from the functional modification of their edges following knapping operations. The study of the later stages of the reduction sequence is fundamental to understanding the techno-functional features of any toolkit. In Australia, a gap exists in the study of the chaîne opératoire of lithic tools shaped or re-shaped through percussion retouching. In our previous works (Martellotta EF., 2021, Martellotta EF., 2022), we have presented evidence for the use of hardwood boomerangs for retouching purposes in Australian Aboriginal communities. Through a detailed experimental protocol, the present study demonstrates how boomerangs can function as retouchers. We found that the use-wear generated on the boomerang's surface during retouch activity is comparable to retouch-induced impact traces observed on Palaeolithic bone retouchers, as well as to experimental bone retouchers generated in our replication experiments. Finally, we explore the role that microscopic lithic chips embedded in the retouchers' surface play in the formation process of retouching marks. Our results address the need for a deeper investigation of percussion retouching techniques in Australian contexts, opening the possibility that uncommon objects-such as boomerangs-could be used for this task. This concept also highlights the broader topic of the highly diverse multipurpose application of many Indigenous tools throughout Australia. At the same time, the study reveals a deep functional connection between osseous and wooden objects-a topic rarely investigated in archaeological contexts.

Initial Upper Paleolithic bone technology and personal ornaments at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria)

The expansion of Homo sapiens and our interaction with local environments, including the replacement or absorption of local populations, is a key component in understanding the evolution of our species. Of special interest are artifacts made from hard animal tissues from layers at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) that have been attributed to the Initial Upper Paleolithic. The Initial Upper Paleolithic is characterized by Levallois-like blade technologies that can co-occur with bone tools and ornaments and likely represents the dispersal of H. sapiens into several regions throughout Eurasia starting by 45 ka or possibly earlier. Osseous artifacts from the Initial Upper Paleolithic are important components of this record and have the potential to contribute to our understanding of group interactions and population movements. Here, we present a zooarchaeological, technological, and functional analysis of the diverse and sizable osseous artifact collection from Bacho Kiro Cave. Animal raw material sources are consistent with taxa found within the faunal assemblage including cervids, large bovids, and cave bears. A variety of bone tool morphologies, both formal and informal, indicate a diverse technological approach for conducting various on-site activities, many of which were focused on the processing of animal skins, likely for cold weather clothing. Technological flexibility is also evident in the manufacture of personal ornaments, which were made primarily from carnivore teeth, especially cave bear, though herbivore teeth and small beads are also represented. The osseous artifacts from Bacho Kiro Cave provide a series of insights into the bone technology and indirectly on the social aspects of these humans in southeast Europe, and when placed within the broader Initial Upper Paleolithic context, both regional and shared behaviors are evidently indicating widespread innovation and complexity. This is especially significant given the location and chronology of the site in the context of H. sapiens dispersals.

SPIN enables high throughput species identification of archaeological bone by proteomics.

Species determination based on genetic evidence is an indispensable tool in archaeology, forensics, ecology, and food authentication. Most available analytical approaches involve compromises with regard to the number of detectable species, high cost due to low throughput, or a labor-intensive manual process. Here, we introduce “Species by Proteome INvestigation” (SPIN), a shotgun proteomics workflow for analyzing archaeological bone capable of querying over 150 mammalian species by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Rapid peptide chromatography and data-independent acquisition (DIA) with throughput of 200 samples per day reduce expensive MS time, whereas streamlined sample preparation and automated data interpretation save labor costs. We confirm the successful classification of known reference bones, including domestic species and great apes, beyond the taxonomic resolution of the conventional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF)-based Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) method. In a blinded study of degraded Iron-Age material from Scandinavia, SPIN produces reproducible results between replicates, which are consistent with morphological analysis. Finally, we demonstrate the high throughput capabilities of the method in a high-degradation context by analyzing more than two hundred Middle and Upper Palaeolithic bones from Southern European sites with late Neanderthal occupation. While this initial study is focused on modern and archaeological mammalian bone, SPIN will be open and expandable to other biological tissues and taxa.

Tales of Multifunctionality: a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review of Boomerangs Used as Retouchers in Australian Aboriginal Cultures

Boomerangs are among the most recognisable elements of Australian Aboriginal technology. In the popular mindset, the prevailing image of these wooden artefacts is that of thrown implements that return to the thrower, principally used for hunting animals. However, boomerangs have a deep multipurpose role in Indigenous societies, with just a few examples of their known functions, including fighting, digging, and making music (i.e., “clap sticks”). Recently, yet another function for boomerangs has been proposed (Martellotta et al., 2021): the functional modification of lithic tools (i.e., retouching)—a form of use that is almost unknown among non-Aboriginal researchers. Here, we provide the first comprehensive review of evidence for the use of boomerangs as lithic retouching tools (percussors). A detailed lexical analysis demonstrates similarities between Palaeolithic bone retouchers used for the same purposes as the Australian hardwood boomerangs, thus confirming our traceological hypothesis and the power of using a multidisciplinary approach in investigating Australia’s deep past. This paper provides the foundation for discussions surrounding the multipurpose concept behind many Aboriginal tools by focusing on the most iconic item. We propose that, in future studies, the complex technological and functional features of boomerangs should take precedence over their famous “returning effect”.

Percuteurs et retouchoirs au Paléolithique moyenen péninsule Ibérique : caractérisationet mode de fonctionnement

Although Palaeolithic bone retouchers have been the object of both specific and large-scale studies in recent years (work of Auguste, Mallye, Hutson and their collaborators), the percussive stone tools used for knapping actions have only been analyzed from a partial and limited perspective. However, the characterization of the latter as tools for developing knapping techniques in different Prehistoric periods, and more specifically in the Middle Palaeolithic, is crucial. Percussive stone tools are analyzed here according to the physical features (measures, weight and raw material) of the selected blanks (usually cobbles and pebbles) and the percussive action modes recorded on them, as observed in the macroscopic use-wear traces and their location on the tools’ surfaces (referred here as “active zone of percussion” [ZAP]). The direction of use is inferred from these two parameters. Our study is based on the analysis of 12 Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from the Iberian Peninsula. These assemblages are located in sites with different geographical and geological contexts, showing different types of occupational and technological contexts, and comprising different chrono-cultural periods. This exhaustive analysis, including up to 202 percussive tools gathered in a wide geographic and chronological framework, has allowed us to define the factors involved in tool selection, and especially the patterns of use related to technological choices regardless of other factors, such as the lithological context. Our results show that the type of occupation and the knapping technical system were the most determinant factors in the selection and use of percussive stone tools during the Iberian Middle Palaeolithic.

The effect of eraser sampling for proteomic analysis on Palaeolithic bone surface microtopography

Bone surface modifications are crucial for understanding human subsistence and dietary behaviour, and can inform about the techniques employed in the production and use of bone tools. Permission to destructively sample such unique artefacts is not always granted. The recent development of non-destructive proteomic extraction techniques has provided some alternatives for the analysis of rare and culturally significant artefacts, including bone tools and personal ornaments. The Eraser Extraction Method (EEM), first developed for ZooMS analysis of parchment, has recently been applied to bone and ivory specimens. To test the potential impact of the EEM on ancient bone surfaces, we analyse six anthropogenically modified Palaeolithic bone specimens from Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) through a controlled sampling experiment using qualitative and 3D quantitative microscopy. Although the overall bone topography is generally preserved, our findings demonstrate a slight flattening of the microtopography alongside the formation of micro-striations associated with the use of the eraser for all bone specimens. Such modifications are similar to ancient use-wear traces. We therefore consider the EEM a destructive sampling approach for Palaeolithic bone surfaces. Together with low ZooMS success rates in some of the reported studies, the EEM might not be a suitable approach to taxonomically identify Pleistocene bone specimens.

Elephant bones for the Middle Pleistocene toolmaker.

The use of bone as raw material for implements is documented since the Early Pleistocene. Throughout the Early and Middle Pleistocene bone tool shaping was done by percussion flaking, the same technique used for knapping stone artifacts, although bone shaping was rare compared to stone tool flaking. Until recently the generally accepted idea was that early bone technology was essentially immediate and expedient, based on single-stage operations, using available bone fragments of large to medium size animals. Only Upper Paleolithic bone tools would involve several stages of manufacture with clear evidence of primary flaking or breaking of bone to produce the kind of fragments required for different kinds of tools. Our technological and taphonomic analysis of the bone assemblage of Castel di Guido, a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, now dated by 40Ar/39Ar to about 400 ka, shows that this general idea is inexact. In spite of the fact that the number of bone bifaces at the site had been largely overestimated in previous publications, the number of verified, human-made bone tools is 98. This is the highest number of flaked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids published so far. Moreover the Castel di Guido bone assemblage is characterized by systematic production of standardized blanks (elephant diaphysis fragments) and clear diversity of tool types. Bone smoothers and intermediate pieces prove that some features of Aurignacian technology have roots that go beyond the late Mousterian, back to the Middle Pleistocene. Clearly the Castel di Guido hominids had done the first step in the process of increasing complexity of bone technology. We discuss the reasons why this innovation was not developed. The analysis of the lithic industry is done for comparison with the bone industry.

Cruciform Signs Decorating Paleolithic Bone Artifacts from Cherno-Ozerye II, the Middle Irtysh Area

This study describes decorated bone artifacts from the Final Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic site of Cherno-Ozerye II in the Middle Irtysh area—a fragment of a bone dagger hilt found during the 1971 excavations, and fragments of bone “needle cases” found in 2019. An interpretation of the meaning of cruciform signs on the artifacts is suggested with reference to technology and form. Parallels from Ural and Eastern European sites are discussed. It is concluded that in terms of technology, morphology, and “syntax”, the signs are stable markers of certain hunter-gatherer groups. Their specificity and possible meaning suggest that the Middle Irtysh area was a contact zone between Western (Ural) and Eastern Siberian groups of Paleolithic foragers. As a result of their interaction, an original decorative style was formed.

Крестообразный знак в орнаментальном оформлении костяных изделий со стоянки Черноозерье II (Среднее Прииртышье)

В научный оборот вводятся костяные изделия с орнаментальным оформлением со стоянки конца эпохи палеолита Черноозерье II в Среднем Прииртышье. Представлены фрагмент рукояти костяного кинжала, обнаруженный в ходе археологических работ 1971 г., и фрагменты костяных «игольников» — находки 2019 г. В соответствии с принципами семиотического анализа подробно описываются композиции орнаментальных записей, выполненных на поверхностях изделий. Большое внимание уделяется выявлению специфики технологии создания крестообразных знаков и их морфологии. Рассматриваются аналоги изучаемых находок в уральских и восточно-европейских коллекциях. Проведенное исследование позволило сделать вывод о том, что технологические, морфологические и синтаксические особенности орнаментальных записей являются устойчивыми признаками косторезного искусства отдельных групп охотников-собирателей. Обнаруженная специфика знаков, их набор и сюжеты дают основание считать Среднее Прииртышье зоной контактов западных (уральских) и восточно-сибирских групп палеолитических охотников и собирателей. В результате этого взаимодействия на юге Западной Сибири сформировался оригинальный (композитный) орнаментальный язык.

The Early Upper Palaeolithic bone industry of the Central Altai, Russia: new evidence from the Kara-Bom site

The first formal bone tool in the Central Altai of Russia was found in an Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblage at the Kara-Bom open-air site. Here the authors report the results of AMS dating, use-wear analysis, 3D-modelling and zooarchaeological and collagen fingerprinting analysis, which reveal important new insights into the osseous technology of the Kara-Bomian tradition.