Neanderthal Cultural Diversity

[uniface]

Aug. 19, 2013 — A study by a postgraduate researcher at the University of Southampton has found that Neanderthals were more culturally complex than previously acknowledged. Two cultural traditions existed among Neanderthals living in what is now northern Europe between 115,000 to 35,000 years ago.

Dr Karen Ruebens from the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) examined the design of 1,300 stone tools originating from 80 Neanderthal sites in five European countries; France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands.

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."

The study's extensive analysis also shows other factors which could have influenced handaxe design, such as raw material availability to Neanderthals, the function of their sites, or the repeated reuse and sharpening of tools -- didn't have an impact in this instance.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 090128.htm

[Minimalist]

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.

Gee. One might almost think that there was a major river or something separating them!

[kbs2244]

Nah…
If the American Indians , at the stone age level, could get across the Mississippi our increasingly realized talented co-inhabits must have been able to cross it.

I would guess a desire to “do it like Dad did.”

And that lead to their demise.

[Ernie L]

Nah…
If the American Indians , at the stone age level, could get across the Mississippi our increasingly realized talented co-inhabits must have been able to cross it.

I would guess a desire to “do it like Dad did.”

And that lead to their demise.

yeah...
there is stone age and then there is stone age...Snow shoes (unparalleled as far as I know),moccasins (much superior to colonial shoes), and of course the canoe.

I have always wondered why disease carried by modern humans is not given more prominence as a possible reason for the demise of old slope head.
Nothing to dig up ?... no way to prove it..as yet (shrug)

We don't have to look far to see the deadly result of an isolated human population making contact with another.

[uniface]

moccasins (much superior to colonial shoes)

as long as the weather was nice. If it rained or snowed though, wearing moccasins was (as 18th century frontier people put it) "a polite way to go barefoot."

[Minimalist]

I have always wondered why disease carried by modern humans is not given more prominence as a possible reason for the demise of old slope head.

It's possible but it is also true that man did not seem to get into serious diseases until he started domesticating animals. I'm not prepared to give HNS and HSS at this time period that kind of know how.

[Ernie L]

I have always wondered why disease carried by modern humans is not given more prominence as a possible reason for the demise of old slope head.

It's possible but it is also true that man did not seem to get into serious diseases until he started domesticating animals. I'm not prepared to give HNS and HSS at this time period that kind of know how.

aha..thanks for that Min.
....that's the first time I have ever seen the subject given any thought...and as a layperson so to speak I read everything I can get my hands on.

I am generally (without a lot of work or luck ) limited to publications offered in the popular/ public domain. Which is why I do so enjoy this site for the numerous sign posts provided by the members pointing me to interesting books and web publications.

[Ernie L]

moccasins (much superior to colonial shoes)

as long as the weather was nice. If it rained or snowed though, wearing moccasins was (as 18th century frontier people put it) "a polite way to go barefoot."

nonsense
Let me offer a counter anecdote from the same period
I have a book "The unredeemed captive" by John Demos. There was an French and Indian raid on the frontier town of Deerfield Massachusetts on the night of 29 February 1704 .

There were many deaths and captives taken. I live thirty miles from Deerfield Massachusetts and the story is well known here. The book I mentioned was written using the diaries and testimony of the surviving captives.

One of the female captives quoted in the book that the Indians took pity on them and offered moccasin replacement for their shoes. There was deep snow on the ground at the time of the raid on Deerfield.

The point of this is..the raiding Indian party brought moccasins with them. They knew that the hostages would not be able to make the arduous winter journey back to Canada with the primitive ankle high hard soled shoes that the average colonist wore. The moccasins the Indians provided their captives were made from elk and moose hide..not summer deer skin mocs. Are the cow hide shoes of the colonists some how cold and water proof..I think not. How do I know they were shoes and not boots..testimony from the captives that from when they were on the march north. They stated that they often broke through the crusted snow and their ankles would be bloodied.

I really think your quote refers to the lack of a hard sole more than the water resistance of the native footwear..hence the feeling of "going bare foot." The term tenderfoot comes to mind.
cheers
The book cover illustrates the Indians and their captives on the start of their long journey north. Many of the captives could not keep up and we killed. Deerfield burns in the back ground.

[Frank Harrist]

Moccasins could be lined with fur or even grass in a pinch, and made water-proof with bear-fat or some similar substance. Otherwise the natives would have been house-bound during winter, which they were not.