Pressemitteilung

YouTube video by World of Paleoanthropology

Thorin, le Néandertalien exhumé d'une grotte de la Drôme, apporte de précieux indices sur la disparition mystérieuse de son espèce et son remplacement progressif par notre ancêtre "Homo sapiens". Enqu...

Discovered on Sunday 18 December 1994 by Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel and Christian Hillaire during a private speleological exploration, the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave is one of the oldest decorate...

Aurignacian ivory beads provide valuable insights into ivory-working techniques, labour investment, production organisation, and the symbolic behaviour of Early Upper Palaeolithic people. Although decades of research have led to a detailed understanding of the chaîne opératoire of these iconic beads, systematic approaches for identifying and interpreting manufacturing- and use-related traces remain limited. Using 74 double perforated ivory beads (DPIBs) from Archaeological Horizon IV at Hohle Fels Cave as a case study, we integrate taphonomic, typological, morphometric, and traceological analyses with experimental replication to develop an analytical framework for reconstructing the manufacture and use of archaeological ivory beads. Our results suggest that DPIB production followed a broadly shared production sequence while allowing flexibility in the order and execution of individual manufacturing steps. The archaeological evidence indicates that the beads were produced, used, and discarded on site. Experimental replication further provides a basis for evaluating labour investment and identifying surface modifications associated with manufacture and use. The observed morphological variability may reflect differences in production practices related to variation in skill, individual behaviour, and the involvement of multiple craftspeople. The analytical approach presented here is transferable and can be applied to other archaeological ivory bead assemblages.

Huge numbers of ancient artifacts – ranging from musical instruments to ivory figurines – have been found from this period, although weirdly, very few human fossils have been discovered in association with these relics. As a result, scholars are uncertain whether the Aurignacian culture was exclusive to Homo sapiens or shared by Neanderthals. Les Rois may provide the key to solving this conundrum, as it contains the largest assemblage of Aurignacian human remains in western Europe. <span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span> Previously, all of the specimens at the site had been classified as modern humans, with the exception of the butchered teeth, which some researchers think might have belonged to a Neanderthal. Based on the nature of the cut-marks, it has been suggested that this unfortunate youngster was processed by Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers in the same way that they typically cut up deer carcasses. This, in turn, was used to support a controversial theory that stated that Aurignacian humans killed and ate Neanderthals before wearing their teeth as jewelry. However, not all archaeologists accepted this hypothesis, and many questioned whether the teeth were Neanderthal at all. Re-examining the ancient dentition, researchers have now confirmed that they actually belonged to a member...