Middle Paleolithic bone retouchers from Northern France: preliminary results of a multi-proxy analysis

• Main Authors: Vignes, Marie-Pauline, Bray, Fabrice, Rots, Veerle, Julien, Marie-Anne, Auguste, Patrick
• Other Authors: Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie (Evo-Eco-Paleo) - UMR 8198 (Evo-Eco-Paléo (EEP)), Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Miniaturisation pour la Synthèse, l’Analyse et la Protéomique - UAR 3290 (MSAP), Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), TraceoLab, Université de Liège, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique Bruxelles (FNRS), GeoArchEon SARL, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UISPP, ANR-21-CE03-0009,BigGame,Environnements et gestion des grands herbivores par Néandertal dans les plaines de France septentrionale : recherches intégrées(2021)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Neandertal; Bone tools; Zooarchaeology; Paleoproteomics; Experimentation; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Flint; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04278750

International audience Over the last decades, important discoveries have deeply reshaped our understanding of Neanderthal behaviors, and notably an increasing number of proofs of non-dietary uses of different kind of animals. The use of bones for a variety of daily activities is now frequently identified, with so-called bone“retouchers” being the most recognizable and the most numerous. But weather those remains were opportunistically or deliberately chosen remains unclear, highlighting two key questions: was there any intentionality in the choice of raw material? Was there any specific preparation of the bones prior their use as retouchers? Only a multi-proxy analysis can allow to answer those questions. We will present here our approach and preliminary results through the study of a collection from Northern France: Biache-Saint-Vaast (thereafter BSV).The MIS 7 site of BSV yielded three main archaeological levels with Mousterian lithic industries associated with rich bones of large terrestrial mammals remains, with particularly good surface preservation for an open-air site. Over 300 bone remains with impression patches, similar to percussionstigmata on lithic material were identified, making BSV one of the largest known collections of Middle Paleolithic bone tools. We propose to perform a systematic non-invasive zooarchaeological, taphonomical and use-wear study to understand the acquisition and use of the remains. In addition, paleoproteomics analyses are applied to overcome the limitations of classical taxonomic attributions, through a minimally invasive technique.Our first results indicate that the remains of the three main species identified at BSV were used as "retouchers": aurochs (Bos primigenius), brown bear (Ursus arctos) and meadow rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus). The specimen observed so far were nearly exclusively used for percussionof flint, in order to retouch flakes or tools. These results highlight the importance of combining different approaches and methods for the knowledge of the ...