This shows Neanderthal handaxes of varying designs -- examined by Dr. Karen Ruebens for her study. Credit: University of Southampton
Posted on 08/19/2013 8:43:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Dr Ruebens' investigations uncovered new evidence that two separate handaxe traditions or designs existed – one in a region now spanning south-western France and Britain – the other in Germany and further to the East. In addition, she found an area covering modern day Belgium and the Netherlands that demonstrates a transition between the two.
She comments: "In Germany and France there appears to be two separate handaxe traditions, with clear boundaries, indicating completely separate, independent developments.
"The transition zone in Belgium and Northern France indicates contact between the different groups of Neanderthals, which is generally difficult to identify but has been much talked about, especially in relation to later contacts with groups of modern humans. This area can be seen as a melting pot of ideas where mobile groups of Neanderthals, both from the eastern and western tradition, would pass by – influencing each other's designs and leaving behind a more varied record of bifacial tools."
The University of Southampton research has revealed Neanderthals in the western region made symmetrical, triangular and heart-shaped handaxes, while during the same time period, in the eastern region, they produced asymmetrically shaped bifacial knives.
Dr Ruebens says: "Distinct ways of making a handaxe were passed on from generation to generation and for long enough to become visible in the archaeological record. This indicates a strong mechanism of social learning within these two groups and says something about the stability and connectivity of the Neanderthal populations.
"Making stone tools was not merely an opportunistic task. A lot of time, effort and tradition were invested and these tools carry a certain amount of socio-cultural information, which does not contribute directly to their function."
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
This shows Neanderthal handaxes of varying designs -- examined by Dr. Karen Ruebens for her study. Credit: University of Southampton
The Neandertal Enigma"Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248413001474
Regional behaviour among late Neanderthal groups in Western Europe: A comparative assessment of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool variability
Karen Ruebens E-mail the corresponding author
Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO), University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK
Abstract
Population dynamics between and within Pleistocene groups are vital to understanding wider behavioural processes like social transmission and cultural variation. The late Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5d-3, ca. 115,000–35,000 BP [years before present]) permits a novel, data-driven assessment of these concepts through a unique record: bifacial tools made by classic Neanderthals. Previously, studies of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools were hampered by a convoluted plethora of competing terms, types and regional entities. This paper presents a large-scale intercomparison of this tool type, and bridges typo-technological and spatio-temporal data from across Western Europe (Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany).
Results indicate a high level of variation among individual bifacial tools and assemblages. Each bifacial tool concept is correlated with various methods of production, resulting in large degrees of morphological variation. Despite such variation, a distinct three-fold, macro-regional pattern was identified: the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA) in the southwest dominated by handaxes, the Keilmessergruppen (KMG) in the northeast typified by backed and leaf-shaped bifacial tools, and, finally a new unit, the Mousterian with Bifacial Tools (MBT), geographically situated between these two major entities, and characterised by a wider variety of bifacial tools.
Differing local conditions, such as raw material or function, are not sufficient to explain this observed macro-regional tripartite. Instead, the MTA and KMG can be viewed as two distinct cultural traditions, where the production of a specific bifacial tool concept was passed on over generations. Conversely, the MBT is interpreted as a border zone where highly mobile groups of Neanderthals from both the east (KMG) and west (MTA) interacted.
Principally, this study presents an archaeological contribution to behavioural concepts such as regionality, culture, social transmission and population dynamics. It illustrates the interpretive potential of large-scale lithic studies, and more specifically the presence of regionalised cultural behaviour amongst late Neanderthal groups in Western Europe.
I think the Neanderthals were the superior race, but they didn’t control the media. That’s why they get such a bum rap.
To point out a sloped forehead and knuckles dragging the ground is an egregious example of profiling.
My immediate thought here in the western hemisphere is that the further south you are with more hardwood species the acuter the angle of the axe or adze needs to be.
In the pinewood north, both in europe and here, conifers dominate and a heavy, blunter axe ( say 20-25 degrees ) handles the pines and poplars and whatnot.
It’s pretty far from clear that those things are axe blades of any sort at all, least of all “hand axe” blades. If you tried to hold one of those in a hand and chip anything with it, you’d either hold the pointed end in your hand and do more damage to your hand than anything else, or hold the large end and be striking whatever you meant to chop with a point rather than a blade. The things could just as easily be wide spear points.
Thanks, but I don’t rely on you for the analysis of artifacts, fossils, or much of anything else.
A cute little Angle is why the Saxons went too. ;’)
;’)
Been away from the desk putting up hay for awhile, but your “point” and it’s attendant angle is well taken!
Take Care, FRiend!
Speaking of hay, there was a very nice article in a (fairly) recent issue of Nat Geog about the medieval-style hay farming in Transylvania.
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