The National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH) has led a study published in the journal Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology that documents for the first time in a systematic way the use of bone tools by Neanderthals at the Abri Suard site (Charente, southwestern France). The work, led by CENIEH researcher Edgar Téllez, has identified at least 62 retouchers and 3 soft hammers made from bone among more than 6,000 faunal remains analyzed.
 

Retouchers are bones or fragments of bones that were used to refine the edges of stone tools, while soft hammers allowed better control over the removal of flakes. Both types of tools show a series of marks and traces that help identify their use as such. At Abri Suard, most show use-wear traces compatible with the retouching of flint and quartzite, the most documented raw materials at the site.
 

These tools were mainly made from reindeer and horse bones, and in some cases, from woolly rhinoceros bones. Many of them show cut marks and fractures associated with the consumption of meat and marrow, indicating that, after serving as food, some were recycled as working tools.

Rhinoceros bones and horse teeth as tools

Among the most singular findings is the identification of soft hammers made from rhinoceros bones, a taxon very poorly represented in European Paleolithic bone industries. Their presence suggests deliberate technical decisions, taking advantage of the physical properties of these large and dense bones to withstand strong impacts.

Another particularly relevant element is a retoucher made on a horse molar, which constitutes one of the oldest known examples of this type of tool to date, and recent experimental studies suggest that they are very effective supports for flint retouching, something that matches the traces observed on this molar.

The selection of the supports for the use of these bones The analysis also shows that the Neanderthals of Abri Suard mainly resorted to long bones, phalanges, and calcanei, anatomical elements that offer good mechanical properties and a stable grip during percussion. This selection does not seem random and reinforces the idea of careful and versatile management of available animal resources.

The Abri Suard site is part of the La Chaise-de-Vouthon karstic complex and has been known since the end of the 19th century, when Neanderthal human remains belonging to various adult and juvenile individuals were already identified in its stratigraphic sequence.

Until now, the presence of bone tools at Abri Suard lacked a detailed study, so this new work integrates zooarchaeological, taphonomic, and technological data and places the site within the growing group of European Middle Paleolithic sites that document an intensive and technically specialized exploitation of bone material by Neanderthals. Overall, the results point to the fact that the same animals provided meat, marrow, and supports for the manufacture of stone tools. Far from a purely opportunistic use of remains, the bone industry of Abri Suard reflects planned behaviors and, once again, a remarkable capacity for technical adaptation in some of the oldest Neanderthal populations of Western Europe.

This study has been carried out in collaboration with different researchers from Spain and France and institutions such as PACEA in Bordeaux, the Institute of Archaeology–Mérida, the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, and the University of the Basque Country.

This research has also been made possible thanks to funding from the European Research Council (nos. 805478, 949330 and 881299), CENIEH and the European Research Council (ERC).