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How Neanderthals gripped retouchers: experimental reconstruction of the manipulation of bone retouchers by Neanderthal stone knappers

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Abstract

When studying bone retouchers, researchers pay close attention to the morphological characteristics of the tool’s active zone, and the lithic raw material processed. In our research, we found that the orientation of the bone retoucher in the hand and the grip employed to retain and manipulate it are crucial factors that affect the morphological characteristics of the retoucher’s active zone. By examining two alternative grips for manipulating bone retouchers ((1) Using all the fingers of one hand in a power grip; (2) Using only the first three digits of one hand in a pinch grip), we found that when the retoucher is held in the first manner, the active area is larger, as is the amount of bone removed by the retoucher. When the retoucher was pinched with only three fingers in a precision grip, retouch damage was more densely concentrated and less bone was removed. The orientation of the retoucher in the hand and the grip employed have a greater influence on the active area than the extent of retoucher use, which we assessed by measuring the number of stone tool edges processed. By gripping the retoucher with all the fingers of one hand, the knapper automatically applies greater force, which results in the removal of more bone. Comparison of experimental bone retouchers with those recovered from Middle Paleolithic archaeological contexts in Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai, Russia) revealed that Altai Neanderthals practiced two methods of grasping bone retouchers, with a three-finger pinch grip being dominant.

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Notes

  1. Following Turner et al. (2020), “bone tools” refers to retouchers and other artifacts made of vertebrate hard tissues such as bone, as well as teeth, antler and ivory.

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Acknowledgements

This study was generously supported by a Russian Science Foundation grant (# 21-18-00376). Olsen’s participation was facilitated by the University of Arizona’s Je Tsongkhapa Endowment for Central and Inner Asian Archaeology. Baumann’s participation was supported by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions postdoctoral fellowship (#839528). The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers of our draft manuscript for their helpful comments and suggestions.

The authors have no competing interests to declare. This study did not involve any underlying data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    Kseniya Kolobova, Vladimir Kharevich, Pavel Chistyakov, Anastasiya Kolyasnikova, Aliona Kharevich, Sergey Markin & Andrey Krivoshapkin

  2. Liege University, 1 Quai Roosevelt, 4000, TraceolabLiege, Belgium

    Malvina Baumann

  3. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0030, USA

    John W. Olsen

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  1. Kseniya Kolobova
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Correspondence to Vladimir Kharevich.

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Kolobova, K., Kharevich, V., Chistyakov, P. et al. How Neanderthals gripped retouchers: experimental reconstruction of the manipulation of bone retouchers by Neanderthal stone knappers. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 14, 26 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01495-x

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