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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archeological assemblages of osseous material culture are rare in the Australian context, especially in the north where environmental conditions are not usually conducive to organic preservation. Nevertheless, more than 230 bone artifacts were recovered from the site of Madjedbebe, located in the Mirarr clan estate of the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory. Of these artifacts, 199 have been identified to tool type. Here, we present the analysis of this exceptional assemblage, including the recovery of one‐piece jabbing fishhooks, numerous fishing‐spear tips, fragments of weaving tools, and possible osseous elements originating from ornamental pieces. The size and diversity of the Madjedbebe osseous technology assemblage is unique in the north and provides new insights into the lives of Mirarr peoples over the past 7,000 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone Age bone and antler implements are an essential study material, as they contain important information on hunter-gatherer tool making technology, dynamics in hunted animal species, choices of raw materials and much more. Some specimens have unique engravings and incisions on their surface, enabling the studies of the decoration patterns. Moreover, organic finds can be dated by radiocarbon, allowing to approach osseous technologies from a chronological aspect. The Early and Middle Holocene sites containing hunter-gatherer bone and antler implements in Lithuanian coastal area have been discovered and investigated in the last century. The Middle Holocene osseous collection, however, has been studied only recently, shedding light on the manufacturing techniques and chronology of the tools. This paper summarizes the combination of technological, radiocarbon and decoration data of osseous implements found in Palanga and Smeltė sites, as well as the single finds (ca. 6000–3800 cal BC) discovered along the coast of Lithuania.

The well-known Upper Palaeolithic open-air site of Kammern-Grubgraben (Lower Austria) is so far the only Central European Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) site with preserved bone industry. This contribution presents the antler, ivory, and bone artefacts recovered during the 1985–1994 excavations. Among several thousand marrow-fractured osseous fragments, only 65 pieces, most of which are attributable to the 23.5–22 ka calBP main occupation, were identified as artefacts related to tool production. Shed antler, predominantly from reindeer, mammoth ivory, and longbones of large mammals served as raw materials. Transversal sectioning and production of pre-forms were carried out exclusively by direct percussion, and pre-forms were modified into tools by invasive longitudinal scraping. Eyed needles, predominantly produced on bone, are the most frequent tool type, followed by projectile points. Noticeable are two perforated batons. The osseous industry of Grubgraben mirrors its intermediate geographic location in the cultural landscape of the LGM: whereas massive-based projectile points and perforated rods connect it to the Eastern European early Epigravettian sphere, a projectile point with a single-bevelled base finds parallels in the Western European Badegoulian. Debitage by fracturing and eyed needles appear to be common traits of many LGM traditions and hence attest to a quick dissemination of certain typo-technological features throughout Europe. Similar observations can be made regarding the lithic industry. Of note is a decorated perforated baton from the uppermost archaeological horizon AL1. Although we consider the single, conspicuously young radiocarbon date of 20.5 ka calBP from AL1 as unreliable, the perforated baton and peculiarities in both the lithic industry and the faunal record nevertheless suggest another later, early post-LGM occupation at Grubgraben. This might relate to the 19–18 ka calBP, early Middle Magdalenian that is attested 300 km to the north at Maszycka cave in Poland. Like other Central European sites north of 47°, Grubgraben does not provide any conclusive evidence for human presence during the second half of the LGM (22–19 ka calBP), and thus the precise conduct of the post-LGM recolonisation of Central Europe remains an open question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost 60 years ago, the small cave of Durras North was excavated to learn more about the Walbunga Yuin People who have lived along this part of the New South Wales coast for thousands of years. From a 2 m × 2 m pit, an extensive shell midden recording some 500 years of site use was uncovered. Amongst the many kilograms of marine shell were a small number of stone and shell artefacts and almost 500 tools made primarily on short-tailed shearwater bone. Such large collections of osseous technology are rare in the Australian archaeological record and consequently this assemblage provides a unique opportunity to better understand the use of bone on this continent. We revisited this remarkable bone tool assemblage and discovered that the fishing-spear tips indicate several distinctive approaches in their manufacture and style – including some ingeniously utilising the natural structure of the bird bone to create tangs. In addition, we also identified tools used in working organic fibres or leathers, as well as a rare interpersonal weapon. In total, the Durras North osseous assemblage not only provides unprecedented detail on the construction of the multipronged fishing spears which were so common a sight in southeast Australia on European arrival, but also insights into more ephemeral cultural manufacturing and use practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the University of Latvia. History / Latvijas Universitātes Žurnāls. Vēsture is the property of University of Latvia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mesolithic pioneers reached Gotland around 9200 cal BP and adopted seal-hunting. The subsistence economy was flexible, and the importance of freshwater fish is reflected in the location of settlements and available stable isotope data. Overgrowing lakes provided an important subsistence base, and marine resources were mainly related to raw material needs. The narrower breadth of resources is reflected in the osseous production, where implements were made from seal bones. The lithic technology exhibits local adaptations over time – in the form of a simplification of the technology – that we relate to sedentism and increases in risk management and external networks.

So-called 'antler headdresses' - red deer (Cervus elaphus) skulls with antlers specifically modified by humans - were identified early as a typical phenomenon of Early Mesolithic sites in the North European Lowlands. In addition to clearly processed pieces with artificial perforations, longitudinally split antlers and heavy processing of their surfaces, there are also pieces that have only one type of these modifications and others in which human processing is hardly demonstrable. Although comprehensive studies of these 'headdresses' have not until now been carried out, the various artefacts are often discussed functionally and interpreted prematurely. In recent years, the discovery of new finds at several sites has again intensified discussion of the typology, function and meaning of these artefacts. To provide a solid base for future discourses, we here present a synthetic study of the available material. A comparative analysis of the morphometric, zooarchaeological and technological features of individual specimens shows that certain characteristics often appear in combination. We propose to reserve the term deer antler 'headdress' to a subcategory of specimens which we suggest might indeed have best functioned as headgear. Since several of the deer skull artefacts do not show all the human modifications included in our definition, we adopt a polythetic classification of the term 'headdress'. Under this definition we identify a total of seven 'headdresses' among those frontlets which could be examined, and note further probable specimens among published material unseen by us. In contrast to the conclusions of some other studies, new direct radiometric dates for the antler headdresses from Berlin-Biesdorf and Hohen Viecheln, together with recent chronological data for Star Carr and Bedburg-Königshoven suggest to us that 'antler headdresses' represent a phenomenon specific for the earliest Mesolithic of the North European Lowlands. Moreover, the presence of at least two or more of these artefacts at the better investigated sites suggests an important role for them in the rarely discernible social rituals of earliest Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, potentially as an aid to consolidating group/territorial identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Danish Palaeolithic began during the Lateglacial (approximately 12,350 calBC) and lasted for about four thousand years. Only a handful of sites and organic stray finds have been precisely dated. And it is primarily on these that a preliminary chronological framework has been built. Similarly, numerous hypotheses on palaeohistory, typology, and settlement patterns have been proposed. However, due to the preservation of sediments that allow the preservation of organic materials and their exploitation during the past 170 years, abundant reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and elk (Alces alces) remains have been uncovered. Many of these are worked and at least some of which can be assigned to the Palaeolithic. These remains have, so far, been only partly studied. Here, we present a study of the complete corpus. The Lateglacial faunal collections in 33 Danish museums were assessed, and 50 reindeer and elk objects are described in detail because they are worked or were mentioned in the literature as being worked. The Palaeolithic artefacts were AMS 14C-dated and analysed together with existing datasets. The results of the study create a more robust framework for hypotheses building. A reliance on reindeer for tool production throughout the Danish Palaeolithic is confirmed, as is the two-fold occupation of Denmark during the Hamburgian. Furthermore, the new results indicate a reduction of human occupation or even possible absence of humans during the first half of the Younger Dryas, followed by an intensive re-occupation of eastern Denmark during the Preboreal. Furthermore, the analysis of the worked bone and antler materials provides new insights into the manufacturing processes. The repeated occurrence of transversely segmented reindeer antler, documenting a continuous evolution of this technique from the Late Upper ***Palaeolithic to the Final Palaeolithic, speaks against a clear separation of the different cultural entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Documenta Praehistorica is the property of Documenta Praehistorica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Perforated batons, usually made from a segment of antler and formed of a sub-cylindrical shaft and at least one perforation, have been documented across Europe from sites throughout the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. The function of perforated batons is still debated. We present here three Magdalenian perforated batons from the site of Gough's Cave (Somerset, UK); these are unique to Britain and represent an important northern example of this artifact type. Our technological analysis revealed that the Gough's Cave perforated batons did not have a purely symbolic purpose, but were clearly used as tools as demonstrated by extensive use-wear on the perforations' edges and ancient fractures across both the distal parts and the shafts. The reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire suggests that the engraving of the deep curved lines within the perforation of each baton was a functional re-adjustment following the significant distortion of the perforation by use. Additionally, oblique bands of incisions were engraved on two of the batons' shafts possibly to provide grip on the smooth antler surface. Altogether, the modifications of the perforations and shafts of the three batons support the hypothesis that the Gough's Cave batons were used in a task associated with ropes and subjected to considerable forces. Their extensive use may be due to the rarity of the raw material (reindeer antler) in the Cheddar Gorge area during the Magdalenian. Extensive usage aside, the Gough's Cave batons fit typologically and share a number of features with other Magdalenian perforated batons. They can, therefore, add significant insight to the debate about the use of perforated batons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploitation of the animals, both their hard and soft components, is central in the lifestyle of the North American Arctic people. Studying the osseous industry allows understanding the adaptation proxies and peopling dynamics of the human groups, as well as their links with the climatic and environmental fluctuations. In the Eastern Arctic, Neo-Eskimo migrants (Thule) replaced Palaeo-Eskimo inhabitants (Late Dorset) around the thirteenth-century A.D. A technological study of osseous artefacts aiming at reconstituting the technical behaviours and cultural traditions of these two populations was performed. The Dorset osseous industry but not that of Thule has been reported to date. Even if discontinuities could be observed between the Dorset and Thule technological traditions, this study stresses that the break between the two populations postulated so far from genetic analyses does not show off in the technological exploitation of the osseous materials. When occurring, changes in the manufacturing processes seem to be slow and progressive. Does this reveal that Dorset and Thule peoples have exchanged more than previously thought?

Antler has been one of the main raw material exploited by high latitude people such as that of prehistoric Europe when reindeer (Rangifer tarandus Linn. 1758) was a common species of Pleistocene Fauna. Following the retreat of glaciers during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, reindeer moved to the North to become today the northernmost ruminant in the world. The transformation of antler has one only goal: making objects. The structure and form of antler and of the different parts within the rack, and its physical and chemical or mechanical properties have a direct influence on the way objects are conceived, made and shaped so that they are best adapted to their function. Nonetheless, all these characteristics vary according to individuals, environmental conditions, anatomical position of the part used and development stage of the antler. As part of the technological analysis of archaeological or modern reindeer antler assemblages, one has to understand these characteristics to best identify where the piece of antler came from in the rack. This in time allows addressing questions such the economy of antler exploitation and/or time (season) of collect. Characterizing the morphology of antler and its mechanical constants and variants has been the main goal of building a reindeer antler reference collection.

Copyright of Archaeologia Baltica is the property of Archaeologia Baltica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Our research on scapular earth‐working implements from the early Hemudu culture (7000–6000 bp) in China reveals prehistoric raw material selection in bone tool manufacture, specifically in regard to animal age. Although the scapula normally would not be considered for distinguishing among adult age classes, the maturity and thickness of the bone were an important consideration for its technological performance. Statistical analysis of the width and rugosity level of the scapular neck show that scapulae from older adult wild buffalo was strongly preferred for crafting earth‐working implements. This raw material was less commonly available to tool makers in comparison with the bones of younger animals. In order to conserve the scapulae of old buffalo for tool production, the Hemudu people likely took these heavy bones from kill sites. They seldom transported scapulae from younger animals; such raw material was rarely used, and presumably only when the desirable material was unavailable. Our approaches for reconstructing buffalo mortality patterns are based on the development of the scapular bone. In addition to water buffalo and cattle, the approach is applicable to other ungulate scapulae that have been transformed into artefacts (tools and oracle bones) in prehistoric and historic cultures. This attempt at testing for age bias in scapular raw material selection can further stimulate methodological development to reveal activities surrounding bone acquisition in preindustrial societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth-working spades were crafted from bone, stone, and wood in preindustrial societies. In the early Hemudu culture (7000-6000 BP) in eastern China, bone, particularly wild water buffalo scapulae, was preferred for crafting spades to modify the margins of wetlands for cultivation and occupation. Experimental and ethnographic research show that earth properties in the area adequately explains why wooden spades were less common; however, preference for bone spades over stone spades requires explanations beyond techno-functions during use. This paper identifies potential factors during the manufacturing procedure that might have encouraged the development and persistence of the scapular spade tradition. Replication experiments reconstructed the manufacturing procedure of the Hemudu scapular spade in comparison to that of a groundstone equivalent. The results showed that the manufacture knowledge was sophisticated for bone as well as for stone. However, the adequate level of know-how for successful production was lower for bone. Surprisingly, the costs in time and manufacturing tools for crafting a good enough bone tool were higher than those for a stone counterpart. In fact, the manufacture of bone tools involved the use of advanced groundstone tools. Overall, the Hemudu tool producers appear to have made their technological choices based on traditional conformity as well as resistance to motor skill adjustment rather than comprehensive cost-benefit assessment. The persistence of the scapular spade tradition led to increased investments into sophisticated modifications to cope with increasingly arduous earth-working tasks and likely led to increased investment into raw material procurement when bone raw materials became scarce. The results also suggest that technological ease and manufacturing costs in tool production should be evaluated carefully within the behavioral contexts, while taking into account that implements crafted from a variety of raw materials were employed in manufacturing the tool and that the costs and benefits in production are not equally perceivable to decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian Aboriginal people have been producing pointed bone technologies for at least 46,000 years. Frequently observed by Europeans on their arrival, it was noted that a great range of items, produced by both men and women, were used in a wide variety of economic and social tasks. In archaeological contexts too, an assortment of bone implements has been recovered. These, however, have simply been described as 'bone points', thus overlooking myriad morphological and use differences which could provide significant insights to researchers. With no consistent terminology or overarching classification system developed for Australian industries, excavators have largely focused on site-specific descriptions—effectively sidelining a large part of past Australian technocomplexes. This paper proposes a typology for Australian pointed bone technology. Based on examination of both archaeological and ethnographic implements, this new classification system will allow archaeologists to compare collections across the continent and, ultimately, relate them better to various aspects of subsistence, symbolism, and non-osseous technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we describe the oldest shaped and utilised bone implement recovered from an Australian context. Dated to beyond 46,000 years cal. BP and recovered from Carpenter's Gap 1 rockshelter, in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, this artefact demonstrates not only that Australian osseous technology has a time depth almost 25,000 years older than previously believed, but that bone technology was present in the opposite corner of the country from which it was proposed to have been innovated around 20,000 years ago. Comparison of this artefact with ethnographic implements found that the CG1 point was most consistent with an awl or a ‘nose-bone’. If the implement was an awl it provides evidence for intangible behaviours such as leather working or basketry being enacted more than 46,000 years cal. BP ago, while the alternative — a nose-bone — would constitute the earliest piece of personal ornamentation in Sahul. In either case, this single artefact provides rare insights into the culture and technology of Australia's earliest peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The (re-)appearance of harpoon technology during the Mesolithic in the southern Dinaric Alps is discussed by presenting the results of contextual, technological and use-wear analyses on the sample of 36 osseous harpoon specimens recovered in Mesolithic and Early Neolithic levels of the rockshelter of Odmut in western Montenegro. The assemblage of harpoons from this site is unique in Balkan prehistory, as there is currently limited evidence for the use of barbed weaponry prior to the regional Late Mesolithic. Technological and functional data related to the introduction of harpoon technology at Odmut and the southern Dinaric Alps are discussed against the background of the appearance of harpoons in the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Italy, and the northern Adriatic. Reasons and mechanisms that might have fostered the spread of harpoons in the circum-Adriatic region and a late use of harpoon technology in Montenegro are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called bone retouchers have been the subjects of numerous studies examining them from different points of view and in various chronological and geographic contexts. However, the study of these tools has rarely been carried out in conjunction with data from lithic typology and technology studies and archaeozoological research, to understand the context in which retouchers were made and used. In this paper, we examined the technological and functional aspects of the retouchers recovered in the Proto-Aurignacian and the Early Aurignacian levels of Labeko Koba. Our study shows that the retouchers of these two techno-complexes of Labeko share several features but also some differences. The exploitation of bones in the Early Upper Palaeolithic EUP levels at Labeko Koba, represented mainly by the retouchers, cannot be regarded as complex. This behaviour is part of a technical tradition that has its roots in the Middle Palaeolithic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of our current knowledge of late Pleistocene African bone technology is drawn from southern African sites, with recent discoveries indicating that bone- and stone-tipped arrows (propelled by a bow) were in use prior to 60,000 years BP. Integration of archaeological with ethnographic data similarly suggests that hunting with poison-tipped arrows on the African continent has an antiquity of at least 24,000 years. Unfortunately, similar analysis of material from eastern Africa is largely absent and consequently, with the sole exception of barbed points, we know very little regarding osseous technology in this region and how similar or dissimilar it is to contexts located further south. This paper presents a small assemblage of seven bone artefacts recovered from the late Pleistocene deposits of Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar. Comparison of the bone projectile points, a bone awl and a notched bone tube with ethnographic and archaeological material from throughout the Sub-Saharan region suggests that, as elsewhere in Africa, bone technology was a central element in the Later Stone Age material culture repertoire of Kuumbi Cave’s inhabitants. It also suggests that arrow points coated with poison were in use in eastern Africa around 13,000 years BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Maintenance and discard patterns are a central aspect of projectile point analyses. Unfortunately, while the examination of maintenance and discard patterns for lithic technologies is well advanced, osseous projectile point maintenance and discard analyses remain in their infancy. In the Magdalenian context, a large part of this situation is owing to the fact that the form and proportions of osseous points at the time of initial manufacture have rarely been clearly described, nor particularly well understood, by researchers. This paper focuses on uni- and bilaterally barbed points manufactured from antler and dating to the Late Magdalenian. Through examination of 732 barbed point artefacts recovered from 18 sites located throughout France and Germany, along with engravings on portable art, and a brief consideration of ethnographic data, an updated proposal for the original proportions of these iconic barbed weapon tips can be made. Knowledge of these dimensions is essential if researchers are to reconstruct the reduction of these artefacts through use, maintenance and rejuvenation cycles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The importance of coastal resources in the late Upper Paleolithic of western Europe has been reevaluated in recent years thanks to a growing body of new archeological evidence, including the identification of more than 50 implements made of whale bone in the Magdalenian level of the Isturitz cave (western Pyrenees). In the present study, the assemblages of osseous industry from 23 Magdalenian sites and site clusters in the northern Pyrenees were investigated, systematically searching for whale-bone implements. The objective of this research was to determine if, and how, tools and weapons of coastal origin were circulated beyond Isturitz into the inland, and if similar implements existed on the eastern, Mediterranean side of the Pyrenees. A total of 109 whale-bone artifacts, mostly projectile heads of large dimensions, were identified in 11 sites. Their geographic distribution shows that whale bone in the Pyrenean Magdalenian is exclusively of Atlantic origin, and that objects made of this material were transported along the Pyrenees up to the central part of the range at travel distances of at least 350 km from the seashore. This phenomenon seems to have taken place during the second half of the Middle Magdalenian and the first half of the Late Magdalenian, ca. 17,500–15,000 cal BP (calibrated years before present). The existence of a durable, extended coastal-inland interaction network including the circulation of regular tools is thus demonstrated. Additionally, differences between the whale-bone projectile heads of the Middle Magdalenian and those of the Late Magdalenian document an evolutionary process in the design of hunting weapons. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent re-examination of the osseous material assemblage from Andernach-Martinsberg, Central Rhineland, has resulted in the identification of an implement manufactured from cetacean bone (probably whale). Argued to be the proximal half of a foreshaft, this artefact is not only one of few such projectile elements to be identified in Magdalenian deposits in northern Europe, but also demonstrates that the exploitation of marine raw materials for use in manufacturing projectile elements is not restricted to southern France, instead extending to at least inland Germany. Additionally, in conjunction with the appearance of marine molluscs and engravings of seals at Andernach, it can now be forcefully argued that this region formed part of an inland–coastal network during the Late Magdalenian and allows us for the first time to suggest that we can identify the movements of individuals transporting valued marine sourced raw materials and their personal experiences across this vast region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The evolution of antlerworking technology in Paleolithic and Mesolithic Europe, especially the production of splinters, is usually described as a cumulative process. A progressive increase in blank standardization and productivity was prompted by the application of a key technical process, the groove and splinter technique (GST). The Badegoulian, however, appears as an interruption in this continuum. According to the original definition of this post-Solutrean, pre-Magdalenian archeological culture, one of its distinctive features is the absence of the GST and the manufacture of antler blanks by knapping only. However, this conception has been recently questioned, leading to an alternative hypothesis suggesting that both GST and knapping were used during the Badegoulian. In this article, we present new evidence from several sites in southwest France, which sheds new light on the issue of Badegoulian antlerworking and the transition with the subsequent Lower Magdalenian. Our study is based on two complementary methods: the technological analysis of antler assemblages well-dated to the Badegoulian (Le Cuzoul de Vers) or to the Lower Magdalenian (La Grotte des Scilles, Saint-Germain-la-Rivière), and the direct 14C dating of specific antler artifacts from mixed or problematic contexts (Cap-Blanc, Reverdit and Lassac). The results firmly establish that, in southwest France, knapping is the only method used for the production of antler splinters during the Badegoulian, before ca. 20,500 cal BP (calibrated years before present), and that it is rapidly replaced by the GST at the beginning of the Lower Magdalenian, after ca. 20,500 cal BP. This technical shift is not linked to an influx of new human populations, environmental change or the supposed economic advantages of the GST. Instead, it must be understood as one of the expressions of a broader reconfiguration of the technical world that starts to take shape in the middle of the Last Glacial Maximum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Coastal adaptations of Palaeolithic foragers along the north Atlantic seaboard have received renewed attention in the last decade and include growing evidence for exploitation of whale bone by Late Glacial Magdalenian groups to the north of the Pyrenees. Here we present a systematic revision of Magdalenian osseous industries from the Cantabrian region designed to explore whether this phenomenon was more widely shared by hunter-gatherer groups along the Atlantic coast of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Fifty-four whale bone objects were identified from 12 of the 64 sampled sites. Essentially represented by large, finished weapon elements (projectile points), these objects are primarily associated with the middle phase of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, and overlap slightly with the beginning its upper and probably the end of its lower phases. More broadly, the circulation of these objects evinces regular, long-distance (ca. 600 km) communication networks operating on both sides of the current French and Spanish Basque Country between 17.8 and 15 cal ka BP. The structure of this network poses interesting questions concerning potential social and/or economic interactions between Magdalenian groups from the Pyrenees and neighbouring Cantabrian region. We suggest that the use of whale bone by these particularly mobile hunter-gatherer groups for the production of hunting weapons was connected to the longer use-life afforded by the large size of this particular raw material. This choice potentially reflects attempts to offset raw material transport costs by privileging their regular maintenance rather than the replacement of hunting weaponry. This growing body of evidence for the exploitation of marine resources during the Magdalenian further reinforces the Bay of Biscay being the backdrop to the emergence of the first regular, diversified and organized coastal economies at the end of the Last Glaciation. • The earliest evidence for whale bone artefacts in the Iberian Peninsula. • Long-distance, structured Magdalenian social networks across the Pyreneo-Cantabrian region. • Confirmation that the earliest coastal economies emerged in the Bay of Biscay. • Magdalenian foragers used whale bone for its unique properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of bone technology in Africa is often associated with behavioral modernity that began sometime in the Middle Stone Age. Yet, small numbers of bone tools are known from Early Pleistocene sites in East and South Africa, complicating our understanding of the evolutionary significance of osseous technologies. These early bone tools vary geographically, with those in South Africa indicating use in foraging activities such as termite extraction and those in East Africa intentionally shaped in a manner similar to lithic tool manufacture, leading some to infer multiple hominin species were responsible for bone technology in these regions, with Paranthropus robustus assumed to be the maker of South African bone tools and Homo erectus responsible for those in East Africa. Here, we present on an assemblage of 52 supposed bone tools primarily from Beds III and IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, that was excavated by Mary Leakey in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was only partially published and was never studied in detail from a taphonomic perspective. The majority of the sites from which the tools were recovered were deposited when only H. erectus is known to have existed in the region, potentially allowing a direct link between this fossil hominin and bone technology. Our analysis confirms at least six bone tools in the assemblage, the majority of which are intentionally flaked large mammal bones. However, one of the tools is a preform of the oldest barbed bone point known to exist anywhere in the world and pushes back the initial appearance of this technology by 700 kyr. • This research expands on the small sample of bone tools known from the Early Stone Age site of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. • The confirmed tools include the oldest preform of a barbed bone point that predates others by at least 700 kyr. • Homo erectus was likely the primary maker and user of bone tools at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African Middle Stone Age (MSA) populations used pigments, manufactured and wore personal ornaments, made abstract engravings, and produced fully shaped bone tools. However, ongoing research across Africa reveals variability in the emergence of cultural innovations in the MSA and their subsequent development through the Later Stone Age (LSA). When present, it appears that cultural innovations manifest regional variability, suggestive of distinct cultural traditions. In eastern Africa, several Late Pleistocene sites have produced evidence for novel activities, but the chronologies of key behavioral innovations remain unclear. The 3 m deep, well-dated, Panga ya Saidi sequence in eastern Kenya, encompassing 19 layers covering a time span of 78 kyr beginning in late Marine Isotope Stage 5, is the only known African site recording the interplay between cultural and ecological diversity in a coastal forested environment. Excavations have yielded worked and incised bones, ostrich eggshell beads (OES), beads made from seashells, worked and engraved ocher pieces, fragments of coral, and a belemnite fossil. Here, we provide, for the first time, a detailed analysis of this material. This includes a taphonomic, archeozoological, technological, and functional study of bone artifacts; a technological and morphometric analysis of personal ornaments; and a technological and geochemical analysis of ocher pieces. The interpretation of the results stemming from the analysis of OES beads is guided by an ethnoarcheological perspective and field observations. We demonstrate that key cultural innovations on the eastern African coast are evident by 67 ka and exhibit remarkable diversity through the LSA and Iron Age. We suggest the cultural trajectories evident at Panga ya Saidi were shaped by both regional traditions and cultural/demic diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]