Paul Kozowyk

Delft University of Technology | TU · Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)

We report the discovery of a 50,000-y-old birch tar-hafted flint tool found off the present day coastline of The Netherlands. The production of adhesives and multicomponent tools is considered complex technology and has a prominent place in discussions about the evolution of human behavior. This find provides evidence on the technological capabilit...

The use of adhesives for hafting stone tools at least 191 ka was a major technological development. Stone tools could be more securely attached to handles, thus improving their efficiency and practicality. To produce functional adhesives required forethought and planning, as well as expertise and knowledge of the resources available in the landscap...

The destructive distillation of birch bark to produce tar has recently featured in debates about the technological and cognitive abilities of Neandertals and modern humans. The abilities to precisely control fre temperatures and to manipulate adhesive properties are believed to require advanced mental traits. However, the signifcance given to adhes...

Adhesive production is one of the earliest forms of transformative technology, predating ceramics and metallurgy by over 150,000 years. The study of the adhesives used by Neandertals and early modern humans currently plays a significant role in debates about human technological and cognitive evolution. Depending on the type of adhesive used, differ...

Schmidt et al. (1) present findings of an African Middle Stone Age (MSA) method likely used to make tar adhesives from Podocarpus leaves. They conclude that the process shows the innovative potential and cognitive complexity of MSA humans. However, Schmidt et al. (2) suggest that birch tar produced in a nearly identical fashion by Neanderthals was...

Research on ancient adhesives from the South African Stone Age is expanding, driven by excellent preservation conditions of adhesives and the potential to address diverse archaeological questions. These adhesives are primarily characterized through microscopic and chemical analysis. Despite geographic variability, a consistently identified componen...

Birch bark tar was used extensively throughout human history. While later ceramic-based production technologies are known, prehistoric aceramic techniques leave little to no archaeological evidence. Experimental tar production attempts to fill this gap and suggest potential techniques. However, their archaeological relevance is unclear. Through an...

We implement a method from computer sciences to address a challenge in Paleolithic archaeology: how to infer cognition differences from material culture. Archaeological material culture is linked to cognition, and more complex ancient technologies are assumed to have required complex cognition. We present an application of Petri net analysis to com...

Technological processes, reconstructed from the archaeological record, are used to study the evolution of behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals and early modern humans. In comparisons, technologies that are more complex infer more complex behaviour and cognition. The manufacture of birch bark tar adhesives is regarded as particularly telling and...

The intentional production of birch bark tar by European Neanderthals as early as 190,000 years ago plays an important role in discussions about the technological and behavioural complexity of Pleistocene hominins. However, research is hampered because it is currently unknown how Neanderthals were producing birch tar. There are several different te...

Osseous barbed and unbarbed points are commonly recovered from the Dutch North Sea and other Mesolithic sites of northern Europe. Interpreted as elements of projectile weaponry, barbed points are considered by archaeologists to be a technological innovation in the hunting equipment of hunter-gatherers. However, debate about their exact use and iden...

We implement a method from computer sciences to address a challenge in Paleolithic archaeology: how to infer cognition differences from material culture. Archaeological material culture is linked to cognition: more complex ancient technologies are assumed to have required complex cognition. We present an application of Petri net analysis to compare...

An adhesive is any substance that bonds different materials together. This broad definition includes materials used in everything from hafted stone tools to monumental architecture. In addition, the combination of bonding, plasticity, and insolubility meant that some adhesives were exploited for waterproofing and sealing of materials, as self-adher...

The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained errors. Author found out that there is an error in the funding declarations of the article.

We agree with Schmidt et al. (1) that simple tar manufacturing processes exist. Tar could have been (re)discovered accidentally (2), and we do not exclude the use of condensation (3) by Neandertals. However, we think it is not the most parsimonious interpretation of all tar finds. Based on (regional) archeological and paleoenvironmental data, we su...

Experimental tar production methods for the destructive distillation of birch bark by Neandertals

Adhesives are an important yet often overlooked aspect of human tool use. Previous experiments have shown that compound resin/gum adhesive production by anatomically modern humans was a cognitively demanding task that required advanced use of fire, forward planning and abstraction, among other traits. Yet the oldest known adhesives were produced by...

The production of compound adhesives using disparate ingredients is seen as some of the best evidence of advanced cognition outside of the use of symbolism. Previous field and laboratory testing of adhesives has shown the complexities involved in creating an effective Middle Stone Age glue using Acacia gum. However, it is currently unclear how effi...

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Lap shear results of replica prehistoric adhesives with varying amounts of beeswax and ochre