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This paper examines Neanderthal survival skills in Britain. Its starting point is that there are major tensions between the three main sources of relevant information – archaeological, palaeoanthropological and palaeoenvironmental data and their subsequent interpretation – that make our understanding of Neanderthal survival much more precarious than is generally supposed. The paper is speculative, and proffers questions not answers. It challenges us to look past the often mute material record, and to equip Neanderthals with a number of logically prerequisite but generally archaeologically invisible survival tools and practices, beyond the well-trodden paths of mobility, hunting and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large smelting site of Korsimoro was investigated during two fieldwork campaigns in 2011 and 2012. Four different technical traditions are identified. Each is characterized by the spatial organization of the working area, the architecture of the furnace, and the assemblages of wastes. Each technical tradition corresponds to one chronological phase. Phase KRS 1 lasted between 600 and 1000 AD and is characterized by small-scale production. Phases KRS 2 and 3, between 1000 and 1450 AD, showed a very significant increase of the production with an important impact on the organization of the society. There is a collapse of the industry at the time of the installation of the Nakomse conquerors followed by a recovery of the production at a small scale during the 17th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]