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Schmidt P, Iovita R, Charrié-Duhaut A, Möller G, Namen A, Dutkiewicz E. Ochre-based compound adhesives at the Mousterian type-site document complex cognition and high investment. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl0822. [PMID: 38381827 PMCID: PMC10881035 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Ancient adhesives used in multicomponent tools may be among our best material evidences of cultural evolution and cognitive processes in early humans. African Homo sapiens is known to have made compound adhesives from naturally sticky substances and ochre, a technical behavior proposed to mark the advent of elaborate cognitive processes in our species. Foragers of the European Middle Paleolithic also used glues, but evidence of ochre-based compound adhesives is unknown. Here, we present evidence of this kind. Bitumen was mixed with high loads of goethite ochre to make compound adhesives at the type-site of the Mousterian, Le Moustier (France). Ochre loads were so high that they lowered the adhesive's performance in classical hafting situations where stone implements are glued to handles. However, when used as handheld grips on cutting or scraping tools, a behavior known from Neanderthals, high-ochre adhesives present a real benefit, improving their solidity and rigidity. Our findings help understand the implications of Pleistocene adhesive making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Schmidt
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Radu Iovita
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Armelle Charrié-Duhaut
- Laboratoire de spectrométrie de masse des interactions et des systèmes (LSMIS), Strasbourg University, CNRS, CMC UMR, Strasbourg 7140, France
| | - Gunther Möller
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Abay Namen
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
| | - Ewa Dutkiewicz
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Berlin, Germany
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Kozowyk PRB, Baron LI, Langejans GHJ. Identifying Palaeolithic birch tar production techniques: challenges from an experimental biomolecular approach. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14727. [PMID: 37679507 PMCID: PMC10485052 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41898-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The intentional production of birch bark tar by European Neanderthals as early as 190,000 years ago plays an important role in discussions about the technological and behavioural complexity of Pleistocene hominins. However, research is hampered because it is currently unknown how Neanderthals were producing birch tar. There are several different techniques that could have been employed, but these differ in their apparent production complexity, time and resource efficiency. Identifying production processes in the archaeological record is therefore paramount for furthering research on the technical behavioural repertoire. Organic biomarkers, identified with Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), have been used to identify possible production processes during the Neolithic. Here we test whether these biomarkers can also distinguish Palaeolithic (aceramic) tar production methods. We produced tar using five different methods and analysed their biomolecular composition with GC-MS. Our results show that the biomarkers used to distinguish Neolithic tar production strategies using ceramic technology cannot be reliably used to identify tar production processes using aceramic Palaeolithic techniques. More experimentation is required to produce a larger reference library of different tars for future comparisons. To achieve this, complete GC-MS datasets must also be made publicly available, as we have done with our data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul R B Kozowyk
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2628CD, The Netherlands.
| | - Liliana I Baron
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2629HZ, The Netherlands
| | - Geeske H J Langejans
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2628CD, The Netherlands
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2092, Gauteng, South Africa
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Aleo A, Kozowyk PRB, Baron LI, van Gijn A, Langejans GHJ. The dynamic lives of osseous points from Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic Doggerland: A detailed functional study of barbed and unbarbed points from the Dutch North Sea. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288629. [PMID: 37531378 PMCID: PMC10395991 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Osseous barbed and unbarbed points are commonly recovered from the Dutch North Sea and other Mesolithic sites of northern Europe. Interpreted as elements of projectile weaponry, barbed points are considered by archaeologists to be a technological innovation in the hunting equipment of hunter-gatherers. However, debate about their exact use and identification of the targeted prey species is still ongoing. To shed light on the function of these tools, we analysed a sample of 17 artefacts from the Netherlands with a multi-disciplinary approach encompassing morphometric, functional, and chemical analysis. 14C-AMS dating yielded the oldest date for a barbed point from the Dutch coast (⁓13000 cal. BP). The observation of microwear traces preserved on the tools provides solid evidence to interpret the function of barbed and unbarbed points. We show that there were two distinct tool categories. 1) Barbed points hafted with birch tar and animal or vegetal binding were likely projectile tips for terrestrial and aquatic hunting. We provide strong clues to support the link between small barbed points and fishing using wear traces. 2) Points without barbs served as perforators for animal hides. Our results highlight the importance of use-wear and residue analysis to reconstruct prehistoric hunting activities. The functional interpretation of projectile points must also rely on microwear traces and not merely on the association with faunal remains, historical sources, and ethnographic comparisons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Aleo
- Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
- Faculty of Archaeology, Department of Archaeological Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Paul R B Kozowyk
- Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Liliana I Baron
- Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Annelou van Gijn
- Faculty of Archaeology, Department of Archaeological Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Geeske H J Langejans
- Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Langley MC, Suddendorf T. Archaeological evidence for thinking about possibilities in hominin evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210350. [PMID: 36314159 PMCID: PMC9620754 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the ability to think about future possibilities must have played an influential role in human evolution, driving a range of foresightful behaviours, including preparation, communication and technological innovation. Here we review the archeological evidence for such behavioural indicators of foresight. We find the earliest signs of hominins retaining tools and transporting materials for repeated future use emerging from around 1.8 Ma. From about 0.5 Ma onwards, there are indications of technical and social changes reflecting advances in foresight. And in a third period, starting from around 140 000 years ago, hominins appear to have increasingly relied on material culture to shape the future and to exchange their ideas about possibilities. Visible signs of storytelling, even about entirely fictional scenarios, appear over the last 50 000 years. Although the current evidence suggests that there were distinct transitions in the evolution of our capacity to think about the future, we warn that issues of taphonomy and archaeological sampling are likely to skew our picture of human cognitive evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
- Archaeology, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
| | - Thomas Suddendorf
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, 4072 Queensland, Australia
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Reconstructing Neanderthal diet: The case for carbohydrates. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103105. [PMID: 34923240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence for plants rarely survives on Paleolithic sites, while animal bones and biomolecular analyses suggest animal produce was important to hominin populations, leading to the perspective that Neanderthals had a very-high-protein diet. But although individual and short-term survival is possible on a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, populations are unlikely to have thrived and reproduced without plants and the carbohydrates they provide. Today, nutritional guidelines recommend that around half the diet should be carbohydrate, while low intake is considered to compromise physical performance and successful reproduction. This is likely to have been the same for Paleolithic populations, highlighting an anomaly in that the basic physiological recommendations do not match the extensive archaeological evidence. Neanderthals had large, energy-expensive brains and led physically active lifestyles, suggesting that for optimal health they would have required high amounts of carbohydrates. To address this anomaly, we begin by outlining the essential role of carbohydrates in the human reproduction cycle and the brain and the effects on physical performance. We then evaluate the evidence for resource availability and the archaeological evidence for Neanderthal diet and investigate three ways that the anomaly between the archaeological evidence and the hypothetical dietary requirements might be explained. First, Neanderthals may have had an as yet unidentified genetic adaptation to an alternative physiological method to spare blood glucose and glycogen reserves for essential purposes. Second, they may have existed on a less-than-optimum diet and survived rather than thrived. Third, the methods used in dietary reconstruction could mask a complex combination of dietary plant and animal proportions. We end by proposing that analyses of Paleolithic diet and subsistence strategies need to be grounded in the minimum recommendations throughout the life course and that this provides a context for interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the behavioral and environmental perspectives.
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Reply to Schmidt et al.: Interpretation of Paleolithic adhesive production: Combining experimental and paleoenvironmental information. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:4458-4459. [PMID: 32047044 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1920933117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
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