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Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study

December 2015
Journal of Human Evolution 89

DOI:10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.006

Authors:

Marie-Anne Julien

GeoArchEon

Bruce Hardy

Kenyon College

Mareike Stahlschmidt

University of Vienna

Brigitte Urban

Leuphana University of Lüneburg

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Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from

Sch€

oningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study

Marie-Anne Julien

, Bruce Hardy

, Mareike C. Stahlschmidt

, Brigitte Urban

Jordi Serangeli

, Nicholas J. Conard

Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, Archaeology Department, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK

Unit

e Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Pr

ehistorique (UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universit

es, Mus

eum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, 1 rue Ren

e Panhard,

75013 Paris, France

Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany

Department of Anthropology, Palme House, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022, USA

Institute of Ecology, Subject Area Landscape Change, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany

Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany

Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany

article info

Article history:

Received 24 June 2015

Accepted 12 October 2015

Available online 1 December 2015

Keywords:

Middle Pleistocene

Lower Paleolithic

Geoarcheology

Zooarcheology

Taphonomy

Use-wear analysis

Bone tools

abstract

Although preservation of Paleolithic faunal assemblages from open-air settings is often poor, the Lower

Paleolithic sites of Sch€

oningen provide exceptionally well-preserved mammalian faunal material for

investigating hominin/animal relationships. Pleistocene fossil assemblages, however, usually reﬂect a

complex taphonomic history in which natural and anthropogenic processes are often superimposed. A

number of examples of osseous ﬁnds that resemble tools were recently discovered in the MIS 9 deposits

of Sch€

oningen 12 II. Non-anthropogenic agents are known to produce surface modiﬁcations mimicking

human artifacts and the identiﬁcation of osseous remains used and/or deliberately modiﬁed by ancient

hominins is often controversial in such old contexts. Multiple lines of evidence are thus useful for dis-

tinguishing between osseous artifacts and “eco-facts”.

In this paper, the recognition of the use of bone for different technological purposes by late Middle

Pleistocene hominins is addressed through a multi-proxy study combining geoarcheology, bone

taphonomy, zooarcheology, and use-wear analysis. This allowed the identiﬁcation of the processes and

agents responsible for the formation and modiﬁcation of the different bone assemblages of Sch€

oningen

12 II. Our analysis points to different types of bones having been likely used as tools. These results expand

the diversity of the organic technological repertoire of the Middle Pleistocene hominins, making

Sch€

oningen 12 II a remarkable new source of information on osseous technology long before the Upper

Paleolithic, the period traditionally viewed as the start of the systematic use of bone tools. Together with

other observations of bone tools documented during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, the results from

Sch€

oningen show that archeologists may have underestimated the diversity and importance of osseous

technology among archaic hominins.

1. Introduction

Bone is a raw material extensively used in the Upper Paleolithic,

however pre-Upper Paleolithic evidence of the use of bone tools is a

disputed topic. Usually without clear evidence of manufacturing,

the identiﬁcation of bone tools in Lower and Middle Paleolithic

contexts depends on the recognition of wear from use alone. The

identiﬁcation of such objects can therefore be difﬁcult, especially in

contexts where other taphonomic agents may have been involved

in the formation and modiﬁcation of the bone assemblages. The

misrecognition of Early and Middle Paleolithic bone artifacts is

particularly worrisome since the publication of Dart's (1957)

‘Osteodontokeratic’culture and Brain's (1981) taphonomical

studies warning about the variety of natural processes that can

create pseudo-tools. With the exception of the geographically and

chronologically widespread and easily distinguishable bone re-

touchers (e.g., Martin, 1907; Taute, 1965; Auguste, 2002; Malerba

*Corresponding author.

E-mail addresses: m.julien@soton.ac.uk,majulien@mnhn.fr (M.-A. Julien).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Human Evolution

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.006

Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286

and Giacobini, 2002; Patou-Mathis, 2002; Schwab, 2002; Valensi,

2002a, b; Verna and d'Errico, 2011; Mallye et al., 2012; Tartar, 2012;

Blasco et al., 2013; Smith, 2013; Daujeard et al., 2014; Moigne et al.,

2015; Rosell et al., 2015), Paleolithic specialists tend to be cautious

in the recognition of the use of bone as a raw material in pre-Upper

Paleolithic European context.

Advances in taphonomic and technological analysis in recent

years have allowed for the identiﬁcation of bone tools in the Lower

and Middle Paleolithic European and extra-European record (e.g.,

Tromnau, 1983; Gaudzinski,1999; Backwell et al., 2008; Burke and

d'Errico, 2008; Rosell et al., 2011; Soressi et al., 2013; Hardy et al.,

2014; Boschian and Sacc

a, 2015; Romandini et al., 2015), and

bones have been recognized to have been used as early as 1.5e2.0

million years in South Africa at sites such as Drimolen, Swartkrans,

and Sterkfontein (Backwell and d'Errico, 2001; Backwell and

d'Errico, 2008; d'Errico and Backwell, 2009). Expedient tools, or

“minimally modiﬁed bone artifacts”(Villa and d'Errico, 2001), are

typical of Lower and Middle Paleolithic bone industries (Patou-

Mathis, 1999). At the famous ‘spear horizon’of Sch€

oningen 13 II-4,

numerous long bones used as retouchers, distal epiphyses of un-

gulate metapodials likely used for hammering, and other activities

that appear to be unrelated to butchery have been reported

(Voormolen, 2008; Van Kolfschoten et al., 2015).

This paper focuses on the mammal remains from recent exca-

vations of the Sch€

oningen 12 II locality (excavated between 2008

and 2009), located about 800 m from Sch€

oningen 13 II (Serangeli

et al., 2015a;Fig. 1A). The goal of the present study is to discuss

the possible presence of bone tools in the different assemblages of

Sch€

oningen 12 II with special attention to the assemblage from

sedimentary cycle 4, geologically contemporaneous to the Spear

Horizon of Sch€

oningen 13 II-4, also known as the Horse Butchery

Site. Due to the emergency nature of the excavation (Serangeli et al.,

2015a), assessment of the context of deposition of the different

archeological collections from Sch€

oningen 12 II was limited in the

ﬁeld, but a detailed study involving palynological, sedimentolog-

ical, and micromorphological analysis was performed in the

southern part of 12 II-4 (Fig. 1D). The exceptional preservation of

the bones allowed a detailed study of the bone surfaces, notably

through taphonomic and use-wear analysis. The results of this

multi-proxy study led to the identiﬁcation of the processes and

agents (both natural and/or anthropogenic) responsible for the

formation and modiﬁcation of the different bone assemblages of

this locality, and allowed the recognition of different kinds of bone

tools at Sch€

oningen 12 II.

In addition to bone retouchers and percussors that are also

frequent in Sch€

oningen 13 II-4 (Voormolen, 2008; Van Kolfschoten

et al., 2015), at least three possible new types of bone tools have

been recognized here: used-tip and smoothed-tip objects, anvil (or

anvil/retoucher?), as well as multiple-purpose tools. We also pre-

sent an intriguing piece of elephant ivory, on which the distinction

between natural or anthropogenic origin of the modiﬁcations is still

not entirely clear.

This study substantially increases the number of tool types

known so far for this key late Lower Paleolithic site, and shows,

without ambiguity, that Middle Pleistocene hominins, likely Homo

heidelbergensis, were using bones for a large range of activities. The

recognition of these organic technologies contributes to our un-

derstanding of the behavioral diversity and complex cognitive

abilities of pre-modern hominins.

2. Schöningen 12 II: context

Sch€

oningen is a complex of sites, composed of at least twenty

archeological sites as well as some more paleontological localities,

mostly belonging to the MIS 9 (Thieme, 2007a; Richter and

Krbetschek, 2015; Serangeli et al., 2015a). The site complex

became world famous after the discovery of the remains of

numerous butchered large Middle Pleistocene horses in association

with several Lower Paleolithic wooden spears (Thieme, 1997).

This paper focuses on material from the Plateau 4, 5, and 6 (P4,

P5, and P6) of Sch€

oningen 12 II, located between 800 and 1000 m

north of the well-known ‘spear horizon’of Sch€

oningen 13 II-4

(Fig. 1A, B). The P4, P5, and P6 areas, with a surface of some thou-

sands of square meters, were excavated between 2008 and 2009

with spade and shovel in the context of a rescue work. Constrained

by time pressure, the sediments were not sieved. During this

ﬁeldwork, concentrations and scattered bone ﬁnds distributed

between ﬁve distinct sedimentary cycles (numbered from 1 to 5,

i.e., Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 to 5) have been discovered (cf. Serangeli

et al., 2015a;Table 1). Each sedimentary cycle consist of layers of

silty and clayish to calcareous muds that grade upwards into dark

brown organic muds (Table 1). The terminology used is as follow:

12 II-4c1 refers to locality 12, channel II, sedimentary cycle 4, layer

c, and sub-layer 1.

Bones are associated with Lower Paleolithic lithic artifacts in

12 II-1, 12 II-2 and 12 II-4 (Table 1;Serangeli and Conard 2015).

The remains discussed in detail in this paper come mostly from

12 II-4. Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 is geologically and stratigraphically

similar to the spear horizon of Sch€

oningen 13 II-4. For these

reasons, the geoarcheological, taphonomical, and zooarcheological

description will primarily focus on the sedimentary cycle 4 of

Sch€

oningen 12 II.

3. Materials and methods

3.1. Geoarcheological methods and materials

Sediments of proﬁle Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, x 899, y 615 exposed

between 102.05 m and 103.25 m above sea level, encompassing

layers and sub-layers 4c, 4a1/b, and 4b (Figs. 1D and 2A, B, Table 2),

have been sampled using 25 75 cm sized steel boxes during

the excavation campaign of 2009. Subsampling for palynological,

sedimentological, and micromorphological investigations was

conducted at the Institute of Ecology, Subject Area Landscape

Change of Leuphana University Lüneburg. The material has been

subject to geochemical and botanical analysis. Samples have been

analyzed for carbon and nitrogen using a Perkin Elmer 2400 Series

II CHNS/O Elemental Analyzer, for their carbonate content

following gasometric determination with the Scheibler apparatus,

and for soluble salts (Electrical Conductivity, EC) according to

VDLUFA (1991). Sediment color has been determined with

MUNSELL Soil Color Charts. For palynological analysis, including

charcoal particles, 10e20 g samples were treated by standard

palynological methods (Faegri et al., 1989; Moore et al., 1991). The

remaining blocks were transferred to the Geoarchaeological Lab-

oratory, at the Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of

Tübingen, Germany for micromorphological study (cf.

Stahlschmidt et al.[2015a] for a full description of the method). Six

thin sections were available for this study, with two thin sections

produced from each block sample Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 2009/20,

Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 2009/21, and Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 2009/22

(Table 2). The petrographic thin sections come from sub-layers

4c1 and 4c2, which contain archeological material. An additional

thin section of an encrusted bone sample from sub-layer 4c3-

Plateau 6 (ID 17897) was also produced. Analysis was conducted

with a petrographic microscope under plane-polarized, cross-

polarized, and UV-light at magniﬁcations of 25to 500.Ter-

minology follows Courty et al. (1989), Stoops (2003),andStoops

et al. (2010).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 265

Figure 1. (A) Location of Sch€

oningen 12 locality within the Sch€

oningen basin. (B) Extension of the archeological rescue excavation (indicated by the black lines) on Plateaus 4, 5, and

6 (P4, P5, and P6) of Sch€

oningen 12 II. (C) Plan of the northern part of the excavated area of Plateau 6, sub-layers 4c1 to 4c3, with the distributions of bones and bone artifacts. Lithic

remains include four retouched and two unretouched ﬂints (not represented). (D) Cluster of bone remains Plateau 4-layer 4c, almost exclusively belonging to a single aurochs

carcass. A lithic retouched artifact was found in the vicinity (gray diamond). The location of the block samples Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 2009/20 to 24 is indicated on the bottom left

corner of the excavated area (modiﬁed from plans from J. Lehmann).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286266

3.2. Zooarcheological and use wear methods

The faunal material studied come from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 to

Sch€

oningen 12 II-5. The study integrated all large mammal remains,

with the exception of beaver remains that were the focus of a

speciﬁc study. The nature of the excavation did not allow sieving of

the sediments and small elements are likely to be

underrepresented.

The mammal bones were identiﬁed using recent and fossil

mammalian collections from the Department of Archaeological

Science and the Department of Biology of the University of Tübin-

gen. When species identiﬁcation was not possible, size classes were

considered (adapted from Brain,1981). Age and sex recognition was

performed on available cranial elements (i.e., antlers, teeth).

Reﬁtting and matching right and left elements was also attempted

for bones and teeth, within and between layers or sub-layers.

All bone surfaces were observed for taphonomic modiﬁcations,

using a 10magniﬁcation lens with a low-angled light and a var-

iable magniﬁcation binocular microscope when necessary. Tapho-

nomic observations were based on the descriptions provided in

Table 1

Summary of sedimentary and archeological context of the Sch€

oningen 12 II sequence (excavation 2008 and 2009).

Sedimentary, depositional context

Surrounding/local environment

Lithic remains

Fauna (NSP)

12 II-5 Grayish brownish, laminated silt and silty

slightly organic mud and humus free silt

towards the top (plateau 4)

Unstable, nearly treeless landscape, steppe-

tundra; onset of a glacial

12 II-4

Dark brown organic mud (II-4b), gray

calcareous silty mud (II-4c), deposited inside

the lake (plateau 4)d

Lake level drop, increased territoriality (II-4b);

and high lake level stand, swampy (II-4c), open

steppe forest

5/2 570

12 II-3 Grayish to dark grayish calcareous silty, sandy

mud, mollusks and thin layer of strongly

weathered fen peat (plateau 4)

Lake level rise, riparian forest stands (Betula/

Alnus), swampy, climatic deterioration

025

12 II-2

Dark gray mud, with intercalated layers of peat

(plateau 2)

Swampy and boggy environment, decrease of

thermophilous trees, opening of landscape

3/4 442

12 II-1

Gray to brown mud, peaty layers intercalated,

plant residues, mollusk shells (plateau 2)

Full interglacial conditions, back swamp forest,

territoriality of the lakeshore towards the top of

level II-1

5/1 522

Data: this study and Urban and Sierralta (2012), Kunz et al. (Submitted for publication), Urban and Bigga (2015), Serangeli et al. (2015).

Retouched/unretouched lithic artifacts.

Our analysis focuses mainly on the material from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, contemporaneous of the “Spear horizon”of Sch€

oningen 13 II-4, and includes comparisons and

elements from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 and 12 II-2.

Figure 2. (A) Proﬁle description of Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, x 899, y 615 (2009). (B) Proﬁle photo at Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 (P4) with the block samples Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 2009/20 to 24

and the indicated layers.

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 267

different works (e.g., Binford, 1981; Marshall, 1989; Villa and

Mahieu, 1991; Lyman, 1994; Fisher, 1995; Blumenschine et al.,

1996; Dominguez-Rodrigo et al., 2012). Observations of the

morphology of the potential modiﬁcations followed the approaches

proposed by Johnson (1985) and Legrand and Sidera (2007). All

deformations of the volume of the piece were recorded, as well as

possible wear patterns in the form of striations, polish, and micro-

ﬂake scarring. In addition, the analysis of micro-wear patterns of

the polish and striation details, and residue analysis were per-

formed on seven bone remains from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 (ID 17868,

17870, 17875, 17896, 17910, 18091, and 18109), in order to consider

their possible anthropogenic vs. natural origins and/or as sup-

porting evidence in making a functional interpretation. The

methods used here are well-established, particularly with regard to

macro and micro-wear and functional analysis of bone tools (e.g.,

Backwell and d'Errico, 2004; Gates St-Pierre and Walker, 2007;

Legrand and Sidera, 2007; Burke and d'Errico, 2008; d'Errico and

Backwell, 2009; Buc, 2011; Soressi et al., 2013). The bones were

examined under reﬂected light using Dino-Lite Digital Microscopes

(AD-413ZT, magniﬁcation 20e220; AM4013ZT4, magniﬁcation

430e490) and images recorded using DinoCapture 2.0 software.

Residues that can be identiﬁed include hair, feathers, skin, bone,

plant tissue, wood, and starch grains (Hardy and Garuﬁ, 1998;

Hardy et al., 2013).

Data are reported in number of identiﬁed specimens (NISP),

number of unidentiﬁed specimens (UNID), and total number of

specimens (NSP sensu Lyman [2008] with NSP ¼UNID þNISP). As

far as possible, the minimum number of elements (MNE) and

minimum number of individuals (MNI) take into account siding, as

well as age and sex identiﬁcations. Unless otherwise mentioned,

the frequency of taphonomic observations was calculated for the

NSPm, corresponding to the NSP excluding bones with unobserv-

able surfaces.

4. Results

4.1. Results of the geoarcheological study

4.1.1. Macroscopic description The sedimentary sequence of

Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 is composed of gray clay (sub-layers 4c2 and

4c1) followed by a dark organic rich sub-layer (4b); it shows clear

similarities to Sch€

oningen 13 II-4 (B€

ohner et al., 2005;Lang et al.,

2012;Urban and Sierralta, 2012; Kunz et al., Submitted for

publication). The general sedimentological features of this part of

the Sch€

oningen 12 II sequence are described in Figure 2A. Layer

4c at Sch€

oningen 12 II presents a calcareous mud, which was

subdivided in the ﬁeld into sub-layers 4c1, 4c2 (Fig. 2A, B), and

4c3. 4c3 has a gravelly to sandy component and 4c2 and 4c1 is

sandy. On site, sedimentary distinctions were not always possible

and thus specimens were sometimes attributed only to the layer

or to the sedimentary cycle. As the excavation of 12 II was a

rescue excavation, the available sedimentary description is

limited, and the following description is derived from the block

samples from Plateau 4 (Figs. 1D and 2B).

In the block samples from Plateau 4 (Fig. 2) that encompass

most of layer 4b and 4c, the lowermost part is a dark grayish brown

to light brownish gray calcareous silt with some remains of mol-

lusks, corresponding to sub-layer 4c2. The overlying sub-layer 4c1

is a very dark grayish brown to very dark gray to dark gray

calcareous mud. The overlying sub-layer 4b (including 4b1/a

respectively) is a black ﬁne organic silt.

4.1.2. Sedimentological and palynological characteristics of

Schöningen 12 II-4 Sediments from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 are

continuously ﬁne-grained and composed of variable amounts of

calcium carbonate and organic matter (Fig. 3). The sedimentary

sequence can be subdivided into three main sub-layers (cf. Table 2):

- a silty, slightly carbonate containing basal part, which corre-

sponds to sub-layer 4c2,

- a middle part consisting of a strong calcareous mud rich in

organic matter, corresponding to sub-layer 4c1,

- and a topmost part of ﬁne organic detritus mud, sub-layer 4b

(4a1/b included; B€

ohner et al., 2005; Thieme, 2007b; Urban

et al., 2011).

The palynological analysis shows evidence for two major local

pollen assemblage zones (LPAZ) that could be correlated with

LPAZ RP4 and RP5 of reference proﬁle Sch€

oningen 13 II of 2003

described in Urban and Bigga (2015) and reﬂecting plant associa-

tion growing in and at the margin of the paleo-lake (Kunz et al.,

2015). Sub-layer 4c2 and 4c1 are characterized by high amounts

of aquatic plants, grasses, and birch (Betula sp.) among the wooden

species, whereas layer 4b (including 4a1/b) is indicative of a phase

of increasing terrestriality dominated locally by sedges (Carex sp.)

and increased amounts of pine (Pinus sp.), while birch and willow

(Salix sp.) are local elements. The pollen zones reﬂect late phases of

the Reinsdorf Interglacial (MIS 9) deﬁned at the Sch€

oningen 13 II

locality (Urban, 2007; Urban et al., 2011; Urban and Bigga, 2015).

4.1.3. Micromorphology of Schöningen 12 II-4 The two thin sec-

tions from sub-layers 4c2 and 4c1 display a dense grain supported

groundmass of silty quartz grains (Fig. 3A). Other coarse

components are mica, plant residues, shell fragments, ostracods,

and sand-sized quartz grains. The ﬁne material includes clay and

amorphous organic ﬁne material. There are areas with coarser

material than the general composition and erosional contacts are

present (Fig. 3B). Plant residues are mainly amorphous organic

ﬁne material; elongated larger plant tissue residues mostly show

a tendency of horizontal alignment. Localized domains of

calcareous ﬁne material were observed in low density. The

number of calcareous localized domains increases as you move

up and they mainly represent chara and shell remains. On the

other hand, the amount of clay decreases in this direction as does

the amount of silty quartz grains. This upward change presents a

clear transition to sub-layer 4c1.

The thin sections from sub-layer 4c1 show a very different

picture. Here the groundmass is calcareous, dominantly consisting

of chara remains and shell fragments (Fig. 3C). As in sub-layer 4c2,

plant residues are mainly present as amorphous organic ﬁne ma-

terial, a few larger, well-preserved plant tissue residues are present

as well; elongated plant tissue residues show a tendency for hori-

zontal alignment. Silty quartz grains are present in lower density

than in 4c2. Occasional lenses of pure silty quartz were observed.

The number of plant residues gradually increases with height.

4.2. Depositional and environmental context of the Schöningen 12

II-4 faunal assemblage: archeological implications

The results of the thin section analysis performed on sediments

from Plateau 4 of Sch€

oningen 12 II indicate lacustrine deposition for

layer 4c. The horizontal clay and plant residue lamina, the hori-

zontal bedding of elongated plant residues, shell, and well-

Table 2

Sample list of micromorphology samples.

Sample Square z-value Units

Sch€

o 12 II-4 2009/22 899/615 102.5e102.75 4c1

Sch€

o 12 II-4 2009/21 899/615 102.25e102.5 4c1

Sch€

o 12 II-4 2009/20 899/615 102.05e102.3 4c1 to 4c2

Sch€

o 12 II-4 ID 17897 864/656 100.34 4c3

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286268

Figure 3. (A) Dense silty quartz-rich groundmass with plant residues in sub-layer 4c2. Note the horizontal clay lamina in the middle of the picture with calcareous chara remains

(yellow arrow). Crossed-polarized light (XPL), scale on the bottom left ¼0.5 mm. (B) Erosional contact in sub-layer 4c2. Fine material increases upwards with a sharp contact in the

middle of the photo (blue lines). Well-preserved ostracod remains (yellow arrow) are present. Plane-polarized light (PPL), scale at right bottom ¼1 mm. (C) Calcareous groundmass

of sub-layer 4c1 with many chara remains (yellowarrows)and shell fragments (blue arrows). XPL, scale at lower left ¼2 mm. (D) Sub-layer 4c1 exhibiting a calcareous groundmass

with preserved shell fragments (blue arrow) and chara remains (yellow arrows), which still contain plant tissue. Note the high amount of amorphous plant residues in the matrix.

PPL, scale at lower left ¼0.5 mm. (E) Carbonate content and soluble salts of proﬁle Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 (P4), x 899, y 615. (F) Carbon and nitrogen content of proﬁle Sch€

oningen 12

II-4 (P4), x 899, y 615.

preserved chara remains in layer 4c are characteristic of a shallow,

open water lacustrine deposition under constant water cover

(Treese and Wilkenson, 1982; Bouma et al., 1990; Tucker et al.,

1990; Wallace, 1999).

The pyrite crust on the bone sample (Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, ID

17897) from sub-layer 4c3 reﬂects anoxic conditions for the for-

mation of the crust (Berner, 1970, 1984; Marnette et al., 1993; Suits

and Wilin, 1998). The formation of hematite presents a recent

feature of the weathering of the pyrite due to exposure (Challis,

1975). Sub-layer 4c3 was noted as sandy in the ﬁeld, matching

the presence of sandy grains in the crust.

The sedimentary change from sub-layers 4c2 to 4c1 reﬂects a

shift from a relative higher to lower energy setting. The strong

quartz silt component in sub-layer 4c2 (thin section Sch€

o 12 II-4

2009/20A) might suggest that this sub-layer formed closer to the

deltaic source of the paleo-lake (see Lang et al., 2012) than the

upper sub-layer 4c1. The presence of clay lamina in sub-layer 4c2

suggests episodes of low energy deposition. Erosional contacts,

local absence of ﬁne material, and the presence of slumps of silty

quartz in thin sections from 4c2 possibly indicate wave action. Sub-

layer 4c2 was therefore most likely deposited in the constantly

water covered, sub-littoral zone of the paleo-lake subjected to

episodic wave action.

Micromorphological analyses reveal a gradual change from sub-

layer 4c2 to 4c1 with a decrease in silty quartz and an increase in

plant residues and calcareous sedimentation. The dominantly

calcareous groundmass of sub-layer 4c1, mainly composed of chara

remains and shell fragments, reveals lower energy sedimentation

than sub-layer 4c2 and little post depositional disturbances. Sub-

layer 4c1 was most likely deposited in the sub-littoral zone of the

paleo-lake. The upward increase of plant residue in sub-layer 4c1

and its dominance in sub-layer 4b possibly indicate a greater

proximity to the shore (Dobrowski et al., 2001). Similarly, the

absence of calcite precipitation in sub-layer 4b might reﬂect

decreased water coverage (Dean, 1981; Brochier, 1983).

Deduced from the sedimentological as well as botanical in-

vestigations, the sediments of the basal part of sub-layer 4c2 mark

the onset of a change within the hydrological system of the lake

with a strong rise of the water table and with an increasing inﬂow

of carbonate rich water. Botanical, palynological, and macro re-

mains analyses (Urban et al., 2011; Urban and Sierralta, 2012; Bigga

et al., 2015; Urban and Bigga, 2015) show high amounts of non-

arboreal pollen and of rather low amounts of tree pollen (Betula and

Pinus <10%), indicative of a rather open landscape during deposi-

tional times. Nonarboreal pollen is mainly composed of grasses

(Poaceae 60%), which include substantial amounts of Phragmites

and of aquatic plants, (e.g., Potamogeton, aquatic buttercup

plantseRanunculus spec.), as reported by Jechorek (2000). Sub-

layer 4c1 is still characterized by tessellated open water condi-

tions (a.o. Potamogeton). Furthermore, pollen and spores indicate

growth of plants such as Sphagnum at slightly higher nutrient-poor

raised bog stands. The amount of Betula pollen has increased

pointing to local birch swamps.

Within layer 4b (12 II-4a1/b, respectively), the hydrological

conditions at the site have changed back and a lower lake level can

be deduced. Sediments are again carbonate free with a relatively

high amount of organic matter (Fig. 3). A variety of remains of local

plants indicate the onset of a phase of terrestrialization (a.o.

Cyperaceae, Pinus). The landscape around the lake and swampy

environments was quite open and covered by herbs and grasses

with scattered groups of trees and shrubs as Pinus, Betula, locally

Salix, single trees of Larix, and Juniper. A leaf of Sphagnum magel-

lanicum in the upper part of sub-layer 4c1 at a depth of

102.82e102.835 m (identiﬁcation A. Hoelzer) points to persistent

raised bog growth in the vicinity of the swamp.

The highest micro-charcoal amounts (Stahlschmidt et al.,

2015a,b; Urban and Bigga, 2015) have been found in the transi-

tion between 4c1 and 4a1/b, peaking at 102.78 m, which might be

interpreted as another indicator for open landscape conditions and

spontaneous ﬁre at climatic changes, or relate to human impact.

Table 3

Composition of the large mammal assemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1, 2 and 4, Plateaus 4, 5, and 6 (castor excluded).

12 II-1 12 II-2 12 II-4

NISP MNE MNI NISP MNE MNI NISP MNE MNI

Palaeoloxodon antiquus 21 5 3 eee 111

Stephanorhinus sp. 136 16 3 43 9 1 2 2 1

Palaeoloxodon/Stephanorhinus ee e16 1 e11e

Equus cf. mosbachensis 68 22 3 25 12 2 53 27 3

Bos primigenius ee e eee287 109 1

Bos/Bison 94 19 2 95 14 2 35 11 1

cf. Megaloceros giganteus ee e 111 2 11

Cervus elaphus 14 5 1 12 5 1 35 8 1 þ2

Capreolus capreolus ee e 111 2 21

Cervidae 18 2 eeee15 6 e

Ungulate un. 23 5 e30 9 e40 6 e

Ursus sp. 5 5 1 eee e ee

Panthera (Leo) sp. 2 2 1 eee e ee

Meles meles 11 1 eee e ee

Carnivora 4 ee eee e ee

Anatomically identiﬁed bones (NSPa) 79 ee18 ee 44 ee

Unidentiﬁed bones (UNID) 57 ee202 ee 52 ee

TOTAL 522 82 15 443 52 8 569 174 12

Total number of specimens (NSP), of elements (MNE) and individuals (MNI) are indicated in bold.

NISP ¼number of identiﬁed specimens, MNE ¼minimum number of elements, MNI ¼minimum number of individuals. For identiﬁcations that did not reach the species

level, MNE and MNI were integrated when elements were complementary, supernumerary, or clearly different (in age, sex, or size) to specimens represented in related

taxonomic categories.

Indicates MNI based on shed antlers.

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286270

4.3. Results of the zooarcheological and use wear study

4.3.1. Composition of the faunal assemblages from Schöningen 12

II A total of 1,560 bones (NSP) from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 to 5 were

examined with standard zooarcheological methods, including

examination of surface modiﬁcations for the recognition of

natural and anthropogenic agents. Sch€

oningen 12 II-3 (25

unidentiﬁed fragments) and Sch€

oningen 12 II-5 (one unidentiﬁed

fragment) have small assemblages and will not be discussed any

further here (Table 1). The three other assemblages provide

roughly the same quantity of faunal material, with a total number

of remains reaching 522 NSP (12 II-1, MNE 82), 443 NSP (12 II-2,

MNE 52), and 569 NSP (12 II-4, MNE 174; Table 3). Reﬁtting or

matching right and left elements was possible for faunal remains

from the same layer or sub-layer but never between different

layers, conﬁrming the integrity of the stratigraphic division. The

faunal assemblage from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, geologically

contemporaneous to the Sch€

oningen 13 II-4 spear horizon, will be

discussed in more detail here and compared to the faunal

assemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 and 2.

Large bovids represent more than 60% of the NISP of the

Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 faunal assemblage, followed by equids and

cervids (representing 11.2% and 11% of the NISP, respectively).

Elephant and rhinoceros are both represented by only a few re-

mains, corresponding to less than 1% of the NISP (Fig. 4A). However,

the horse is the most numerous species in terms of MNI with at

least three individuals represented, followed by the red deer with

three individuals (two represented by shed antlers only [Table 3]).

This over-representation of large bovids in both NISP and MNE is

due to the presence of a concentration of aurochs remains on

Plateau 4 (P4; Fig. 1D, Serangeli et al., 2012). A large amount of

reﬁtting and matching was possible, yielding a sub-complete

skeleton of an adult male, of which the remains were dispersed

over a height of 40 cm embedded in layer 4c. If this specimen is not

considered, the assemblage is dominated by horse (28.3% of the

NISP) and cervid remains (with a total of 27.8% of the NISP), fol-

lowed by large bovid remains not belonging to the aurochs from P4

(with 19.3% NISP; Fig. 4B).

The fauna present in 12 II-2 and 12 II-4 are quite similar, with

equids (Equus mosbachensis) and large bovids (Bos/Bison)domi-

nating the faunal spectrums (Table 3). In 12 II-1, equids and large

bovids are also well-represented, but rhinoceros remains (Ste-

phanorhinus sp.) are the most numerous (at least for NISP).

Straight tusk elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) is also relatively

well-represented in 12 II-1. A number of carnivore species (rep-

resented only by a few remains) were identiﬁed in 12 II-1

including Ursus sp., Panthera (Leo) sp, and Meles meles, while

carnivores are totally absent in 12 II-2 and 12 II-4 (Tab le 3).

4.3.2. Taphonomy of the Schöningen 12 II faunal assemblages

Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 and 4 have similar proportions of identiﬁed

specimens with 89.1 and 90.9% of bones at least anatomically

identiﬁed (Table 3). In 12 II-2, by contrast, 54.3% of the specimens

were identiﬁed to anatomical element (Table 3). Despite this

difference, the high frequency of identiﬁcation indicates that the

three faunal assemblages are very well-preserved, though small

elements may be underrepresented due to the lack of sieving.

Bone surfaces are generally well-preserved in all layers,

although bones and teeth presented different colors ranging from

Figure 4. (A) Proportion of the different taxa from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 in percentage of identiﬁed specimens ¼%NISP. (B) Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 faunal diversity expressed in %NISP,

excluding remains belonging to the sub-complete skeleton of aurochs from Plateau 4. (C) Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 faunal diversity expressed in percentage of individuals ¼%MNI.

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 271

mostly gray/beige-brownish in 12 II-4 to mostly brown/blackish

color in 12 II-1 and 2. This difference of color is typical of remains

deposited in anaerobic conditions (e.g., Rabinovich and Biton,

2011). In all sedimentary units, a few remains have surfaces that

are partly damaged by acidic water typical of chemical erosion

caused by acidic sedimentary conditions.

Carnivore action is limited in all the faunal assemblages

considered here. In 12 II-1 and 2, only three elements (MNE ¼3)

have carnivore marks (Table 4). In 12 II-4, ten elements (MNE ¼10,

NISP ¼14) present possible marks attributable to carnivore action

(Table 4), including a horse distal metacarpal that presents typical

tooth punctures on the epiphysis associated with probable claw

marks on each side of the diaphysis (ID 17902; Fig. 5A).

Hominin-induced marks in the form of cut or scraping marks

were recorded on six elements (MNE) from 12 II-1 (N ¼56) and two

from 12 II-2 (N ¼47). Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 has the largest number of

anthropogenic modiﬁcation with 36 elements (N ¼43) presenting

scraping and/or cut marks (Table 4). The cut marks are varied, deep

or very shallow, short or long, and some cut marks present a double

bottom in the striation (like for the specimen 17470-Fig. 6B), sug-

gesting that the tool used was either not sharp or retouched, or

made of a somehow “coarse”material. Intentional green bone

breakage (identiﬁed through typical ﬂakes, percussion pits, and

large percussion notches, cf. Villa and Mahieu, 1991) was observed

on eight specimens (MNE) from 12 II-4. The aurochs bones from

Plateau 4 are almost all complete, however, and no human inﬂicted

damage has been recognized on those remains. Generally long

bones presenting green bone breakages scars also have cut or

scraping marks. Cut marks and bone breakage attest to different

steps of butchery, including skinning, dismemberment, disarticu-

lation, deﬂeshing, and likely marrow extraction (cf. Binford, 1981;

Figs. 6 and 7). No burned bones were recognized.

In the three main bone assemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II,

several bones present different degrees of smoothing and rounding

of the edges or the surface. Five remains from 12 II-1 (ca. 1% NSP),

two (0.5% NSP) from 12 II-2, and 16 (2.8% NSP) from 12 II-4, present

relatively high degrees of smoothing of the surface and/or the

edges. In 12 II-4, those remains come mostly from sub-layer 4c3,

where three completely rounded bones are atypical in the collec-

tion, with rounding on all areas of the bone including the inner or

medullar part: a fragment of large bovid metatarsal (ID 18098), a

cervid phalanx (ID 18096), and a large bovid calcaneum (ID 17802)

dthis last one also shows a more advanced stage of weathering

than the rest of the bones from the collection. Those specimens

may also show randomly oriented striations of various lengths and

widths (also variable along the striations themselves) and with a

ﬂat or uneven bottom at the base of the striation (Fig. 5AeE). Such

characteristics are typical of bones transported and/or abraded by

water and sediment particles (Andrews and Cook, 1985; Lyman,

1994; Fernandez-Jalvo and Andrews, 2003; Boschian and Sacc

2010). However, most faunal remains from 12 II-4 belong to sub-

layer 4c1 (NSP ¼369), with a limited number of faunal remains

reported from sub-layers 4c2 and 4c3 (NSP ¼22 and 29,

respectively).

In the overall collection, long bones and long bone fragments

were the best-represented elements, followed by ribs and verte-

brae, while cranial remains were relatively limited. Comparison of

the proportion of MNE for the aurochs of Plateau 4 and the large

herbivores from Plateaus 5 and 6 shows different patterns. While

the aurochs from P4 is reﬂecting a complete skeleton, the herbi-

vores from P5-P6 4c3, 4c2, and 4c1 show relatively lower repre-

sentation of bones from Group I (composed mostly of ribs and

vertebrae) and a higher proportion of bones from Group II (i.e.,

principally long bones), which could account for a partial sorting of

the remains (Table 5). Remains from 4c3 and 4c2 are however too

few to be representative (Table 5).

Other remains from the 12 II-4 faunal collections present clearly

different patterns of smoothing than the one discussed above, with

a localized smoothing of their tips associated with different fea-

tures that could suggest that at least part of them may have been

used by hominins. They will be described in more details bellow.

4.3.3. Schöningen 12 II bone tools In the overall bone collections

from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1, 2, and 4, a number of remains present

highly localized mark and wear traces that suggest those

specimens may have been used by hominins. The morphology of

the specimens, the type of marks, and their localization allow us

to propose the recognition of different categories as follows:

retouchers, percussors, bones with used tip, possible smoothers,

and also anvil-like and multi-purpose bone tools.

By convention, active ends are described as distal ends.

Specimens are ﬁgured either anatomically oriented or with the

active end oriented upward. No residues were preserved on the

bones.

Percussor. A distal metatarsal of a horse from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c1

(ID 18122) has two areas with short and deep incisions above the

articular surface on the anterior part of the metaphysis (Fig. 8A) that

could correspond to skinning and/or disarticulation marks (Binford,

1981). A chop-like mark associated with a large ﬂake removal is

located on the edge of the distal epicondyle (Fig. 8B-C). These marks

are similar to other metapodial specimens described at Sch€

oningen

Table 4

Biological modiﬁcations related to human and carnivore activities recorded on the

surface of thebones of the large mammalassemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1, 2, and

12 II-1 12 II-2 12 II-4

N MNE N MNE N MNE

Cut and scraping

marks

56 6 47 2 43 36

Percussion damages

(perc. notches,

ﬂakes, etc.)

21 ee10 8

Green bone breakage 19 e18 e55 e

Carnivore induced

marks

5 3 48 3 14 10

N¼number of specimens, MNE ¼minimum number of elements. No burned

bones have been recognized in the assemblages.

Table 5

Comparison of the representation (in MNE) of Voorhies Dispersal Groups for

Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 large herbivores from Plateaus 4, 5, and 6.

Plateau, Layer Dispersal groups

IIeII II IIeIII III

P4, 4c Aurochs 69 15 5 0 2

P5eP6, 4c1 Equid 0 0 11 2 1

P5eP6, 4c1 Bovid 3 1 3 0 1

P5eP6, 4c1 Cervid (medium-large) 1 1 4 0 0

P5eP6, 4c1 NSPa þþ eþþþ eþ

P5eP6, 4c2 Cervid 0 0 2 0 0

P5eP6, 4c3 Large herbivores 3 6 2 0 0

MNE was not possible to be calculated for anatomically identiﬁed specimens (NSPa),

relative proportions are indicated with the “þ”signs.

Dispersal groups after Voorhies (1969) in Lyman (1994).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286272

13 II-4 as possible hammers or percussors (Voormolen, 2008;Van

Kolfschoten et al., 2015). The helical fractures on the distal shaft

may result either from butchering, from the breakage of the bone

during use, or from another origin. Considering the angularity of the

distal end of large ungulate metapodials as well as their rigidness,

they may have been used as percussors for stone tool production

and/or curation, or for breaking bones for dismembering and/or

marrow extraction (see Van Kolfschoten et al., 2015).

Bone retoucher and multi-purpose tool. From Sch€

oningen 12 II-

2c1, a very distinctive double retoucher has been identiﬁed (spec-

imen 17938-Fig. 9). The piece is a fragment of shaft of a metapodial

of a large cervid (possibly Megaloceros). The fracture seems to have

occurred on a semi-fresh bone. A group of long superﬁcial V-shaped

striations parallel to the length of the bone are located on the

central part of the piece. Two groups of sub parallel deep V-shaped

depressions, perpendicular to the length of the bones, are located

on the two extremities of the piece. These marks are typical of

bones used for retouching lithic artifacts (Patou-Mathis, 2002),

while the long striations correspond to scraping marks likely to

remove the periosteum or adhering tissue prior to the use of the

bone. The retouch marks are clustered and well delimited near both

ends of the piece with some marks partly covering the edge of the

fracture, likely indicating that the piece was used after the breakage

occurred and is likely “complete.”

From Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c1, a fragment of mid-shaft from a

metapodial of a medium size ungulate (likely a cervid-ID 17855)

shows a variety of marks of anthropogenic origin (Fig. 10). This

relatively small piece (6.6 cm long for 2.6 cm wide) presents several

short cut-like marks on the caudal side of the bone and a group of

longer marks on the opposite side that could all result from

butchery (Fig. 10D). The long marks are partly covered by two short

deep marks that resemble retouching marks. The helical fractures

suggest the shaft of the bone was broken while the bone was fresh.

In the middle part of the piece, two areas characterized by more

superﬁcial though numerous and sometimes crossing marks,

correspond to scraping marks, likely from removing the perios-

teum. On the most proximal part, those marks seem to partly cover

Figure 5. Examples of taphonomical modiﬁcations observed on the bones from Sch €

oningen 12 II. (A) Carnivore modiﬁcations: possible claw marks (A1e2) and tooth marks (A3); (B)

Plant root etching; (CeD) Modiﬁcations resulting from sedimentary abrasion and/or water action. (Modiﬁed from pictures from A. Blanco, M.A. Julien).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 273

a group of deep striations (Fig. 10B), as well being partially trun-

cated by V-shaped obliquely oriented depressions typical of bones

used as retouchers (Fig. 10C). The distal tip shows cortical micro-

ﬂakes associated with localized smoothing and polishing, not

visible on any other parts of the piece, with the exception of a

highly localized polished area on the proximal tip (Fig. 10). These

marks likely result from a longitudinally applied force against the

distal tip of the bone (against both soft and hard material) and

handling at the proximal end. On the side of the piece, on the

exposed fractured edge, long longitudinal V-shaped striations are

visible. Made after the breakage of the bone, these are unlikely to be

related to butchering activities, but could result from the same

longitudinal movement that resulted in the creation of the ﬂaking

and slight smoothing of the tip. Such localized wear patterns are

typically produced by the use of the tip of the bone (cf. Johnson,

1985).

In both cases, the fracture pattern seems to have occurred

prior to use on a fresh (17866) and a semi-fresh bone (17938).

The presence of scraping marks, likely corresponding to removal

of the periosteum prior to use, as well as the absence of cortical

scaled areas on the area used for retouching, tend to indicate

both bone blanks were also likely used while fresh or interme-

diately fresh (cf. Mallye et al., 2012; Abrams et al., 2014), while

the variety of types of wear patterns suggests multiple uses for

specimen 17866.

Anvil/Retoucher. From Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, a large proximo-medial

fragment of a radius of a large bovid (ID 17814) bears different

localized marks. On the cranial part of the proximal diaphysis, a

few short scraping marks seem to be associated with percussion

pits and several large notches with partially detached percussion

ﬂakes (Fig. 11A). A large notch associated with a helical fracture is

also visible on the medio-caudal side (Fig. 11B). This seems to

indicate the bone was put on an anvil and fractured in a fresh

state. On the same caudal side, two possible short oblique cut-

marks are located on the epiphysis and the proximal part of the

diaphysis. On the anterior mid-shaft, numerous cut or scraping

marks are visible and seem to at least partly pre-date numerous

deep and very short V-shaped depressions that cover this area

(Fig. 11C). The depressions are not tightly clustered (unlike the

marks from the two retouchers described previously), though they

are restricted to the medial part of the bone and are clearly

distinct from natural taphonomic modiﬁcations by their V-shaped

cross sections, similar to thin and shallow retouching marks. A

distinctive smoothed edge is visible between the mid-part of the

impact area and the distal tip of the specimen, and a slightly

smoothed area is also present on both sides of the large caudal

notch. Other localized features include cortical ﬂaking and

smoothing of the lower end (Fig. 11D).

These marks could result from the use of the bone as a passive

piece with actions of ‘chopping’as well as possible cutting with

sharp lithic material on the surface of the bone, though retouching

is also possible. The presence of the smoothed edges could result

from the rubbing of some material on the surface while chopping

occurred, or from a more active use of this piece in a grinding-like

movement.

Figure 6. Examples of ribs of large ungulates with cut marks from Sch€

oningen 12 II. Left (A): Horse rib (ID 17441) from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, with three main areas presenting groups

of different kind of cut marks: A1 and A3) external side: deep, parallel, and short marks; A2) internal side: small, superﬁcial, and oblique marks. Right (B): Large bovid rib (ID 17470)

from Sch€

oningen 12 II-2 with group of cut marks located on and near the neck of the rib; B1) internal side: group of long shallow oblique marks; B2) external side: group of deep

and short marks. Though not located on the same area on the ribs, the cut marks on specimens 17441 and 17470 likely correspond to similar butchery gestures, i.e., possibly from

evisceration (A2, B1) and deﬂeshing (A1, A3, B2). (Modiﬁed from photos from W. Gerber, Uni. Tübingen; bar scales ¼2cm).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286274

Used-tip, smoothed-tip objects and pseudo-tools. Different ele-

ments with localized smoothing and ﬂaking of the tip have been

recognized in the collections from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1 and 12 II-4.

Smoothed- and used-tip elements from 12 II-4 are composed

mostly of fragments of long bones of equids, but also of large bovid

and cervid long bones (Figs. 12 and 13). A single specimen coming

from 12 II-1 presents a localized ﬂaked and polished tip, a distal

shaft of a cervid tibia (ID 17890) that resembles specimens from

12 II-4.

The specimens have the same elongated morphology, with

pointed or convex-smoothed tips (Figs. 12 and 13), with either

numerous cut and/or scraping marks on the cortical surface of the

bones (cf. Fig. 13A, B) or randomly oriented striations (e.g., 17868-

Fig. 13C) that suggest likely sedimentaryabrasionprior to the use of

some specimens.

Distinguishing polish/smoothing due to use versus taphonomic

origins can be challenging. Thus, determining if the bone was used

as a tool requires the differentiation of wear patterns created by

natural processes/taphonomic agents (such as water movement

and trampling) from anthropogenic modiﬁcation. To establish a

possible anthropogenic connection, we examined the morphology,

as well as the macroscopic and microscopic patterning of use-wear.

Criteria of identiﬁcation followed those based on experimental data

and archeological collections described in different studies, notably

d'Errico and Backwell (2003), Backwell and d'Errico (2008), and

Romandini et al. (2015).

Pointed elements present the same kind of pattern observed on

the distal end of specimen 17855 (Fig. 10), with small cortical and/

or medullar ﬂakes; i.e., likely utilization ﬂaking associated with

highly localized smoothing on the tip (Fig. 10A, B). As for specimen

17855, localized slight smoothing of the proximal ends was noticed

for specimens 17896 and 17816 (Fig. 13A, B). Convex-smoothed tip

elements show both low and high angled beveled tip edges (cf. ID

17870-Fig. 12; ID 17806, 17868, 18093-Fig. 13C). In most cases, the

proximal end is fresh (i.e., not abraded), but can also present a saw-

like breakage pattern (e.g., ID 17806, Fig. 13C) suggesting secondary

breakage on dry bone. The distal tips, by contrast, are highly

rounded and polished on both the external and internal surfaces,

but usually the smoothing is more clearly extended onto one of the

surfaces.

The use-wear present on the distal tips of the rounded-tip bones

shows a heterogeneous micro-topography with crossing and

transverse striations. Upon microscopic examination of the differ-

ential wear at high magniﬁcation (470), the polished surfaces

reveal ﬁne parallel to sub-parallel striations (cf. Fig. 12A1 for

ID 17870; Fig. 13C for ID 17868). The patterning of the polish and

striations, conﬁned to ½to 1 cm of the tip of each object, suggests

that these areas are polished due to anthropogenic action. This

pattern is similar to experimental bones used to rub hides (Buc,

2011). Although specimen 17896 is classiﬁed as a possible bone

tool, this specimen did not present microscopic scars that could

derive from anthropogenic use.

Micro-ﬂaking, striations, differential polish, and loss of angu-

larity (or smoothing) correspond to use-wear categories usually

resulting from unintentional damage during use (Johnson, 1989),

while the slight smoothing present on opposite ends of some

specimens could correspond to unintentional wear while handling

the bones (cf. Figs. 10 and 13A, B).

A few other remains showing surface abrasion or polish have

been recognized as ‘pseudo-tools.’In these cases, contrary to the

specimens described previously as possible bone-tools, the

morphology of the break of the pseudo-tools was not changed by

the abrasion. Three of these bones for which the surface smoothing

was likely of natural origin did not reveal any microscopic evidence

of anthropogenic origin other than possible cut-marks: ID 17875,

17910 (both from 12 II-4c3), and 18109 (from 12 II-4c1). These

specimens were clearly distinguishable from the proposed bone

tools, and showed randomly oriented striations typical of sedi-

mentary abrasion (cf. Fig. 5 C, D).

Figure 7. Example of long bone with cut marks and spiral-like fracturefrom Sch€

oningen

12 II-4:cervid distal tibia (ID 18128) with parallel incisions on the medialmalleolus, likely

left during dismemberment. (Modiﬁed from photos from W. Gerber, Uni. Tübingen).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 275

Figure 8. Horse distal metatarsal from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c1 (ID 18122) showing deep incisions above the articular surface (A) likely left during skinning or disarticulation. On the

lateral side of the epicondyle, deep hack and ﬂaking marks (B, C) likely result from the use of the bone as a percussor for stone tool production or maintenance. (Modiﬁed from

photos from J. Becher and W. Gerber, Uni. Tübingen).

Figure 9. Double retoucher on a fragment of metapodial of a large cervid from Sch€

oningen 12 II-2c1 (ID 17938), with close up on the areas used for retouching stone artifacts (A and

B). (Modiﬁed from photos from J. Becher, Uni. Tübingen).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286276

An interesting piece from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c should also be

mentioned here: a large fragment of ivory bearing signiﬁcant polish

(ID 17530, Fig. 14). In cross section, this ivory fragment shows

highly visible Schreger lines forming an angle characteristic of ivory

from the peripheral area of the tusk (Abelova, 2008). The general

shape of this ivory piece seems to indicate that it comes from the

mid part of a large tusk, rather than the tip or the proximal part. The

cementum is missing, suggesting that this piece was already dry or

fossilized and that some splits fell off before the different traces

visible on the surface occurred.

The specimen shows two axial breaks on each of the side. Ex-

amples of large pieces of ivory broken by elephants during theirlife

are known in the modern record (Palombo et al., 2010), and thick

fragments from the medial part of the tusk have been observed in

such situations (Haynes, 1988, 2006). However those show

different patterns, with less wrinkly ﬂat fracture surfaces and more

helical-like general morphology of the break in comparison to the

present specimen, although quite long and ﬂat specimens have

been reported in the fossil record (Villa and d'Errico, 2001). Both

surfaces are rough with no signs of post-breakage dentine growth;

there is no evidence that this ivory may have healed from a

breakage during the elephant's lifetime. The ripple texture of the

larger ﬂat surface seems more characteristic of axially split tusks

from drying rather than from human induced-splitting (cf.

Khlopachev, 2006; Khlopachev and Girya, 2010). The outer split

surface is more difﬁcult to interpret, though it might result from the

same process (i.e., drying out of the tusk). This split is not complete

and ends with a bending fracture on the lower half of the piece.

Although it cannot be totally excluded that this ivory piece might

have been intentionally broken from a sub-fossil tusk, the specimen

shows no clear evidence of it. No grooving or knapping traces are

visible on the surface.

The piece presents different degrees of polish over much of the

outermost and ﬂat innermost surfaces. The proximal internal

surface is relatively unmarked. By contrast, the distal portion is

heavily polished on both the ﬂat innermost and particularly the

outermost surface. The polish is mainly located but not restricted

to elevated areas, and this suggests contact against a relatively soft

material. The tip is highly polished and slightly beveled, with no

signs of chipping or fracture, suggesting that the polish took place

under static or low dynamic loading and in contact with a rela-

tively soft or ﬁne material. Heavy dynamic loading such as impact

would likely have left visible fracturing or ﬂaking of the ivory

surface, features that are absent here, however parallel micro-

striations observed on both sides of the tip (Fig. 14 A, B1) could

indicate use.

Figure 10. Mid-shaft of a metapodial of a medium size ungulate from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c1 (ID 17855) showing a possibly utilized tip (distal part-A1, A2), an area used as a

retoucher (proximal part-C), as well as deep (B) and shallow incisions (D) and interpreted as a multi-purpose tool. (Modiﬁed from photos from J. Becher, Uni. Tübingen).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 277

On the proximal portion of the outermost surface, there is a cluster

of thin parallel striations that are not associated with the polish seen

toward the distal end,as well as randomlyoriented marks(Fig. 14 C, D).

Their appearance matches well with sedimentary abrasion observed

on other specimens from the site. If we assume this specimen could

have been only partly buried, the marks observed seem to at least

partly result from the action of sedimentary particles in a moving

water environment on the part exposed.

Figure 11. Large bovid radius from Sch €

oningen 12 II-4c3, Plateau 6 (ID 17814) showing two opposed percussion marks on the anterior (A) and posterior (B) sides, typical of human

impact fractures. Note the percussion ﬂake attached to percussion area A and the probable percussion pits just below the percussion area A, probably resulting from previous failed

attempts to break the bone open (indicated by the arrows). On the mid-shaft (C), numerous deep and short depressions associated to a localized smooth edge could indicate the

bone was used as an anvil and/or as a retoucher. The distal tip (D) shows large cortical ﬂaking and smoothing. Scale bars ¼2 cm. (Modiﬁed from photos from J. Becher and W.

Gerber, Uni. Tübingen).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286278

5. Discussion

The Sch€

oningen Middle Pleistocene archeological deposits

provide a well-preserved faunal and environmental record that

allows a detailed, multi-proxy analysis of this Lower Paleolithic

archeological locality. The combination of geoarcheological, taph-

onomic, zooarcheological, and use-wear investigations at the

Lower Paleolithic site complex of Sch€

oningen 12 II allow the

identiﬁcation of the processes and agents implicated in the for-

mation and modiﬁcation of the different faunal accumulations at

this interglacial lakeshore, and the identiﬁcation of bones used as

possible tools by pre-modern hominins.

5.1. Schöningen 12 II faunal assemblages

The faunal assemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II-1, 2, and 4 are

typical of interglacial Middle Pleistocene contexts from north-

western Europe (Schreve, 2001). They are similar to the ones re-

ported for the nearby site complex of Sch€

oningen 13 II, conﬁrming

the geological recognition of the layers and overall geological

synchrony of the deposition of the bones (cf. Van Kolfschoten, 2014;

Starkovich and Conard, 2015). The three main assemblages studied

show a clear anthropogenic input, but greater in 12 II-4 (Table 4).

Different mammal species (at least cervid, large bovid, and equids)

were processed and likely consumed, and some bones possibly

used as tools, showing an intense exploitation of the animal car-

casses. The lack of burned bones could be partly due to the speciﬁc

dark coloration of the remains, making the recognition of possible

burned bones difﬁcult (cf. Rabinovich and Biton 2011) and/or to the

lack of the smallest fragments from the collection (due to the

absence of sieving). In Sch€

oningen 13 II, however, where sieving has

been performed, no burned remains have been recognized as well,

and recent examination of the sediments and artifacts from 13 II-4

shows that evidences of controlled ﬁre is lacking on the excavated

area (Stahlschmidt et al., 2015b). The micro charcoal record seems

to indicate however that burning may have occurred at some dis-

tance from the depositional site (Urban and Bigga, 2015; Kunz et al.,

Submitted for publication). We propose that the lack of burned

material at Sch€

oningen 12 II could therefore result from 1) a spatial

or taphonomical bias, 2) the consumption of rawproducts, or 3) the

absence of consumption of the carcasses at the site (which is more

unlikely considering ethnographical accounts of butchering

events).

The different bone assemblages from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 provide

evidence for slightly different taphonomic histories, which is in

agreement with the information deduced from the geo-

archeological study (cf. supra). Moreover, the limited number of

faunal remains in sub-layers 4c3 and 4c2 in comparison to 4c1

could account for either (1) a difference in function or intensity of

use of this area of the paleolake by humans, (2) a location at the

margin of the human occupation, or (3) a partial removal of the

remains by water or other taphonomic agents.

No remains from the Plateau 4e12 II-4 present signs of abra-

sion or rounding that would account for water action. Conversely

in Plateaus 5 and 6, sub-layer 4c3 has indications of water

modiﬁcation of some of the bones, which could account for

multiple sources of the remains, i.e., a mix of anthropogenic and

natural origin (with possible water transport), or to a different

Figure 12. Possible bone artifact from Sch €

oningen 12 II-4c1, Plateau 6 (ID 17870) on a horse radius fragment,interpreted as a smoother. The cortical surface presents different marks

of various size and orientation (B(-black arrows indicate large chop-like incisions)), as well as two (possibly three) notches corresponding to impact areas (B-black stars). On the

distal tip, a heavily smoothed and polished area is restricted to the medullary side of the bone and does not extend over 15 mm (A2); parallel micro-striations are visible at high

magniﬁcation (A1). The cortical side of the tip is slightly rounded but does not present clear smoothing. (Modiﬁed from photos from J. Becher, C. Fuchs, B. Hardy).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 279

hydrological system at the time of sedimentary deposition, as

suggested by the more gravelly to sandy component reported in

4c3 (cf. supra). Considering the estimated original topography of

the hydrological basin (Lang et al., 2015), the geoarcheological

data, and the clustering observed for the remains of aurochs in

layer 4c (P4), it is likely that P6 was closer to the lakeshore than

was P4. Assuming that human activities originally took place on

the shore, this could account for some relocation of the bones and

Figure 13. Possible bone artifacts from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c1 (ID 17896, 17816, 17868, 17806) and 4c1/c3 (ID 18093), Plateau 6 exhibiting features characteristic of human-induced

modiﬁcation through use. (A, B) Specimens with pointy-tips, showing ﬂaking associated with localized smoothing. Note the slight smoothing on the opposite side, likely resulting

from handling. (C) Convex-smoothed tip elements, with detail of micro-wear observation of ID 17868 showing parallel micro-striations. Note the similar size and shape of the

blanks of the three specimens, likely chosen for their handiness. (Modiﬁed from photos from J. Becher, W. Gerber).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286280

possibly repeated movement of some of the bones by waves for

P6, particularly for 4c3. If water movements affected the bones

from the other layers and sub-layers studied, the intensity was

likely less than the one recorded in 4c3, which is in agreement

with the apparent sub-littoral lacustrine depositional environ-

ment recovered particularly from the above sub-level 4c1.

The 4c remains, however, are likely only a part of what would

have been the original site. Some of the remains could have been

abandoned on the shore and washed up by the former lake “tides.”

It is also possible that they correspond at least partly to refuse that

was thrown into the lake. In light of the evidence collected so far,

we consider the second and last hypothesis (or a mix of them) as

the more likely here. This could also at least partly explain the

limited amount of stone artifacts recovered at the site. However,

special purpose sites such as kill and butchery sites are also known

to offer limited amounts of lithic artifacts in relation to bone re-

mains (cf. Isaac, 1971; Julien, 2007; Julien and Krotova, 2008).

Recent investigations of the Horse Butchery Site of Sch€

oningen

13 II-4 have proposed that the bone bed resulted from the accu-

mulation of different events (Julien et al., 2015; Rivals et al., 2015).

Here, the limited proportion of remains, and particularly the low

proportion of dental remains, did not allow investigation of the

seasonality of death of the animals, but our analysis highlights the

integrity of the different sub-layers recognized in the ﬁeld that

represent different taphonomical histories and slightly different

modes of accumulation. Moreover, the possible use of sub-fossil

remains and the different nature of the depositional events recor-

ded at Sch€

oningen 12 II-4 (with a mix of both, natural and

anthropogenic bone accumulation) allows us to propose that the

bone assemblages of at least 12 II-4c results from multiple accu-

mulation events.

In this context, and considering the relatively limited number of

remains examined here, the exact function of the site is difﬁcult to

ascertain. Nonetheless, the activities represented suggest that

butchering, processing, and likely primary consumption of animals

occurred (with at least marrow snacking), corresponding in all

likelihood to a butchering/processing site. The different activities,

the apparent repetitive use of the site, and the use of bones for

different kinds of activities suggest that hominins used the area for

a realtively long period of time, and likely repeatedly (at least

during the time record that corresponds to the deposition of the

different layers and sub-layers considered here).

5.2. Toward the deﬁnition of the diversity of the Lower Paleolithic

bone industry

Bone retouchers, percussors, and possible anvils have been

identiﬁed in the material from Sch€

oningen 12 II-2 and 12 II-4. In

addition, numerous specimens from 12 II-1 and 12 II-4, for which

morphology and marks characteristic of use have been observed,

are considered here as possible tools and described as ‘used-tip’

and ‘smoothed-tip’objects.

Legrand and Sidera (2007) note that different marks are visible

after only a few minutes of use (scratches, surface polish or color-

ation, and ﬂaking), while deformation and smoothing of the shape

of the object occur after a longer period of use. Therefore, it could be

proposed that the differential wear observed on the used- and

smoothed-tip objects reﬂects different intensity of use of the bones

for a similar gesture or task, with smoothed-tip objects corre-

sponding to a more advanced stage of modiﬁcation of the

morphology of the tip of the objects. However the morphology of

those two types of remains is quite different, with the used-tip

Figure 14. Large ivory fragment with ﬂat ‘removals’and smoothed tip from Sch€

oningen 12 II-4c, Plateau 5 (ID 17530) and details of use wear analysis. The specimen measures ca.

31.9 7.3 cm for 516 g. Smoothing and polishing are common on the outermost side (A) and limited to the tip of the specimen in the most internal side (B1eB2), parallel micro-

striations are visible at high magniﬁcation. Sedimentary abrasion is visible on the largest outermost area (C, D). Surface modiﬁcations of this specimen result likely from a complex

taphonomical history. (Photos: C. Fuchs, NLD, and B. Hardy).

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 281

objects clearly less elongated than the smoothed-tip ones. On the

used-tip objects, the micro-ﬂaking also suggests a more heavy

dynamic loading involving some kind of impact against hard ma-

terial, while smoothing involves contacts against a soft material.

Therefore, a different function of those objects is more likely.

Similar broken bones to the ‘used-tip’objects have been success-

fully used as expedient tools for butchery activities, notably for

detaching muscles or slicing frozen meat, producing the same kind

of wear patterns on the tip of the bone as those from here (cf.

Stanford et al., 1981; Frison, 1991; Johnson and Bement, 2009).

The smoothed-tip artifacts are similar in morphology and wear

patterning to the bone tool type known as smoothers (or lissoirs).

Usually, but not always, made of rib fragments, smoothers are most

often considered tools used to smooth hides in order to make them

tougher, less permeable, and more burnished (Semenov, 1964;

Julien et al., 2011; Soressi et al., 2013). Smoothers are known

from Upper Paleolithic (late Upper Paleolithic: Averbouh and

Buisson, 2003; Gravettian: Lacarri

ere et al., 2015; Aurignacian:

Leroy-Prost, 1975, 1979; Ploux and Soriano, 2004;Proto-

Aurignacian: Julien et al., 2002; Tejero and Grimaldi, 2015; Cha-

telperronian: d'Errico et al., 1998; Bafﬁer and Julien, 1990) and

Middle Paleolithic (Soressi et al., 2013) contexts but have rarely

been reported from the Lower Paleolithic (for a possible exception,

see Stekelis, 1967). All used- and smoothed-tip bones from

Sch€

oningen 12 II were located in the same area of P6 in the sub-

layer 4c1; none of them were found inside or near the main con-

centration of aurochs remains in area P4 (Fig. 1B).

Other specimens (including a large smoothed fragment of ivory)

could have been used by hominins, but result more likely from

natural modiﬁcations or a mix of the two. The large ivory fragment

was located in an area of lower concentration of remains (in P5)

between the aurochs bones concentration (in P4) and the main the

main area P6 (Fig. 1B). With the exception of ﬂaking on large pieces

of ivory discovered in late Middle Paleolithic layers of the Barma

Grande cave at Grimaldi, no clear tools made on ivory have thus far

been recognized for assemblages pre-dating the Early Upper

Paleolithic (Onoratini et al., 2012). Identifying anthropogenic

modiﬁcation on ivory is more difﬁcult than on bone and no

comparative experimental use of large ivory fragments exists. This

specimen could have been used as suggested by the use-wear

analysis, but considering the complexity of the piece (at the

macro-scale), the context of discovery (i.e., isolated element found

in proximity to an apparently naturally deposited carcass), and the

difference in size and morphology with the other possible bone

tools identiﬁed, we cannot exclude that at least part of the traces

observed are of natural origin.

Known bone tools from Lower and Middle Paleolithic contexts

seem largely found in large mammal and megafaunal butchering

sites and related to butchery activities (e.g., Stout et al., 2014;

Boschian and Sacc

a, 2015; Zutovski and Barkai, 2015). If at least

part of the bone tools reported here were used during butchery

and carcass processing (or related activities), this could partially

explain the limited amount of lithic remains recovered at

Sch€

oningen, though this does not account for the relatively large

quantity of cut marks identiﬁed on the surface of the bones.

Different types of materials, including shells, ‘hard’plants, or

bones, are known to be suitable for butchering activities (e.g.,

Toth and Woods, 1989; Choi and Driwantoro, 2007; West and

Louys, 2007; Johnson and Bement, 2009). Such material may

have been available to and used by Sch€

oningen hominins, which

could at least partly explain the variety of cut mark shapes

recognized on the bone surfaces. Similarly, considering the lack of

large stones on the excavated area of Sch€

oningen, bones with

robust ends may have been used for breaking up other skeletal

material for dismemberment and/or marrow extraction, which

could explain the occurrence of intentional green bone breakage

at the site.

In the Sch€

oningen 12 II assemblage, none of the described ob-

jects have been clearly manufactured by hominins. Fresh and semi-

fossilized bones seem to have been used as raw material for

expedient use. Use-wear analyses performed on the ﬂint artifacts

from Sch€

oningen demonstrate woodworking, hide working,

butchery, and plant processing. A few artifacts show possible use on

bone, but this could occur during butchery or from the use of a bone

retoucher (Rots et al., 2015). However, a number of the specimens

identiﬁed as bone tools show scraping marks and clear percussion

notches. This repeated evidence of scraping off the periosteum

prior to percussion and/or use could suggest that breakage was

performed with the intention of producing a blank, a cutting edge

and/or a pointed break. If this were the case, this would account for

some intentionality and potentially signify ‘manufacturing’here. In

addition, the deep striations located on the proximal end of spec-

imen 17855 (Fig.10B) seem to have occurred prior to the retouching

marks. Such deep parallel striations have not been recorded on any

other bones from the studied collection and could correspond to a

preparation of the functional area of the tool, prior to the use as a

retoucher, or to the cleaning or preparation of the edge of the lithic

tool itself. Moreover, specimen 17938, the only remain of very large

cervid from layer 12 II-2, seems to have been collected and broken

in a semi-fresh state, and possibly brought into the site as a blank.

Soft hammers, percussors, and retouchers made of bone (more

rarely antler) are frequent in the Middle and Lower Paleolithic re-

cords, and notably in Sch€

oningen 13 II-4 (Voormolen, 2008; Van

Kolfschoten et al., 2015; Serangeli et al., 2015b), but bone tools

from the Lower and Middle Paleolithic are usually quite isolated

ﬁnds. Here, in addition to the typical percussor and retoucher, at

least three new types of bone tools have been recognized (i.e.,

anvil-like, used-tip and smoothed-tip objects, as well as multi-

purpose tools), making of Sch€

oningen 12 II likely the most

diverse pre-Upper Paleolithic bone tool assemblage. For the large

fragment of ivory reported here could correspond to the earliest

possible evidence of the use of this raw material, though a more

detailed study involving experimentation will be necessary before

rejecting the possibility that it is an ecofact. So far, no typical Lower

Paleolithic bifacially retouched bone has been recognized at

Sch€

oningen. Those elements are usually made on and associated

with proboscidean remains (Segre and Ascenzi, 1984; Boschian and

Sacc

a, 2015; Zutovski and Barkai, 2015). The scarcity of probosci-

dean remains at Sch€

oningen may explain the absence of this typical

Lower Paleolithic bone tool in this assemblage.

The artifacts reported here are considered expedient tools since

most of them show no evidence of clear shaping of the bones.

However, we argue for a degree of intentionality in the choice and

possible transport and shaping or preparation of certain specimens.

Middle Pleistocene hominins seem to have taken advantage of the

different properties of the bones, using dense and sharp epiphyses

for ﬂint knapping or breaking bones, rounded surfaces of long

bones for retouching lithic tools, pointy elements for deﬂeshing

and/or processing soft materials, ﬂat surfaces for cutting and/or

chopping (and rubbing?), and when needed, even used the same

element for performing at least two different tasks (Fig. 15). This

corresponds (to our knowledge) to the earliest evidence of the use

of multi-purpose bone tools. In addition, the diversity of types of

bone tools, likely corresponding to the possible diversity of use,

suggests that these elements, although expedients, might form an

industry in the same way as Lower Paleolithic lithic tools. More

work, especially experimentation and systematic use-wear anal-

ysis, will be needed to fully understand the chaîne op

eratoire and

possible multiple functions of those different objects. However, the

current study suggests that Late Lower Paleolithic hominins' bone

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286282

tool repertoire may have been more diverse than previously

thought.

6. Conclusion

In this paper, we have examined multiple lines of evidence to

investigate the processes involved in the formation and mod-

iﬁcaton of the faunal assemblages from the Middle Pleistocene

open-air locality of Sch€

oningen 12 II. The quality of the preservation

of organic material, including osseous remains, provided the op-

portunity to examine the possible use of bone as raw material

during the late Lower Paleolithic.

Some elements of the collection, including a concentration of

aurochs bones located on Plateau 4 of Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, were

inferred to have a natural origin as suggested by their restricted

spatial distribution (i.e., clustered in one area) and the absence of

clear human intervention. On the other hand, the material found in

Plateau 6 of Sch€

oningen 12 II-4, 2, and 1 were primarily of

anthropogenic origin, as deduced from the occurrence of butchery

marks, intentional green bone breakage, and the presence of

possible bone tools. The combined evidence suggests that intense

butchery and carcass processing occurred at the sites.

We propose that bone was used for different domestic activ-

ities, including stone tool production and curation, as well as

butchering and processing activities. While most remains seem to

represent expedient tools, a clear choice is manifested in the se-

lection of raw material depending on the anticipated use, and a

basic shaping or preparation of some artifacts is possible here.

This conclusion is supported by the substantial number of bone

tools and tool types that represent what we propose as a Lower

Paleolithic bone industry. The outstanding context and preserva-

tion of the faunal remains at Sch€

oningen foster the high quality

observations needed to identify previously unrecognized kinds of

artifacts.

Bone has undoubtedly been used for a variety of purposes at

Sch€

oningen (Voormolen, 2008; Van Kolfschoten et al., 2015) and

additional investigations of the material from the many sites at

Sch€

oningen and other Lower Paleolithic localities will provide

further insights into the diversity of organic technologies that were

part of the daily life of Middle Pleistocene hominins. Such well-

preserved archeological assemblages continue to allow us to

reﬁne our understanding of the complex nature of human/animal

relationships during the Middle Pleistocene. While the use of bone

tools does not, in and of itself, prove advanced cognitive evolution

of the Sch€

oningen hominins, the new artifacts presented here

greatly expand the number and range of bone tools known from the

Middle Pleistocene. In this way, they open new avenues for the

study of the technology and economic behavior during this period.

Assuming that these technologies are not entirely unique to

Sch€

oningen, we suspect that future research will document com-

parable ﬁnds from other sites of similar age.

Acknowledgments

M.-A. Julien received support from the Fyssen Foundation and

the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC grant AH/

K000378X/1). Analyses were supported by the Deutsche For-

schungsgemeinschaft (DFG) reasearch project CO 226/22-1, the

Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of

Science and Culture, Hannover, Germany (B. Urban,

Figure 15. Proposition of typo-functional categorization of the possible osseous artifacts from Sch€

oningen 12 II. Soft materials include animal (skin, meat, viscera, tendons, etc.) and

vegetal (bark, ﬁbers, etc.) resources. White ¼bone, gray ¼ivory, ? ¼specimen with unclear anthropogenic origin of the modiﬁcations.

M.-A. Julien et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 264e286 283

PRO*Niedersachsen, Projekt: 74ZN1230). Many thanks to L.

Bement, K. Carlson, E. David, N. Goutas, G. Haynes, C. Houmard, G.

Khlopatchev, M. Patou-Mathis, S. Parﬁtt, S. P

ean, Starkovich, E.

Tartar, C. Vercout

ere, and S. Wolf for the helpful discussions. We

would like to thank S. Ali, J. Becher, A. Blanco-Lapaz, C. Fuchs, W.

Gerber, T. Rein, and T. Schmid for their assistance and help with the

organization of the bone material and the ﬁgures. We thank two

anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on an earlier draft

of the manuscript.

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Full-text available

May 2025

Despite the widespread acceptance of the Clactonian during the earlier part of the Hoxnian interglacial (MIS 11c) in Britain, the subsequent occurrence of a non-handaxe signature early in the following interglacial (MIS 10/9) has received less coverage and remains contentious. Recent work on MIS 9 in Britain has re-evaluated the archaeology of the period. This paper offers a critical assessment of the non-handaxe signature in MIS 9 Britain, including the addition of Redhill in East Anglia from recent excavations. The paper is an evaluation of the evidence for distinct core and flake assemblages, analysing the technology and offering a comparison with handaxe sites from the interglacial. Four non-handaxe sites can be identified in the Thames and East Anglia; the technology of the artefacts they yield represents a base line that cannot be differentiated from the wider Lower Palaeolithic other than in terms of the presence/absence of handaxe manufacture. Due to the lack of positive identifiers, the MIS 9 technology cannot be linked directly to the Clactonian and should be treated separately. Given the temporal pattern of occurrence early in the interglacial in both MIS 11 and MIS 9, and no convincing functional or raw-material explanations, the assemblages are interpreted as a cultural signature. This fits into the wider variation across Europe during the Lower Palaeolithic linked to the ‘Cultural Mosaic Model’, and a further example of the nuanced chronological patterns emerging in the Lower Palaeolithic of Britain. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41982-025-00217-2.

Middle Paleolithic bone industry in Central Asia, first evidence from Obi-Rakhmat Grotto (Uzbekistan)

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2025
JASR

The use of bone tools in contexts predating the Upper Paleolithic of Homo sapiens in Eurasia is no longer subject to debate. However, the recent evidence highlighting significant Neanderthal bone industries demonstrates that this phenomenon has been largely underestimated. A re-evaluation of each assemblage through a systematic search for bone artifacts is now a necessary prerequisite for accurately assessing the nature and variability of bone production over time and across past humanities. Such an approach should precede any attempt at a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying their emergence and development. With this in mind, we initiated an investigation in Central Asia, a key region for Middle Paleolithic human settlements, where the potential for bone artifacts has remained weakly tested until now. Here, we present the preliminary results from Obi-Rakhmat (Uzbekistan). Dated to 90-40 ka BP, it is one of the few multilayered sites in the region to have yielded human remains. The original composition of the set of bone artifacts, which reflects that of the lithic assemblage, confirms our expectations and opens new avenues for research on this emerging topic.

Explotació i aprofitament de fauna salvatge en una vil·la romana: el cas dels cèrvids del Pla de Palol (Platja d’Aro, nord-est de la península Ibèrica)Exploitation and use of wildlife in a roman villa: the case of the deer of the Pla de Palol (Platja d’Aro, northeast of the Iberian Peninsula)

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2024

En els darrers anys, el coneixement sobre les pràctiques ramaderes en època romana al nord-est de la península Ibèrica ha augmentat considerablement gràcies a un creixent nombre d’estudis arqueozoològics aplicats a les vil·les. Això no obstant, aquests estudis difícilment han centrat el seu interès en les escasses restes de fauna salvatge d’aquest tipus de jaciment. A les excavacions dutes a terme a la vil·la romana del Pla de Palol (Platja d’Aro, NE de la península Ibèrica) durant el bienni 1998-99 es va recuperar un conjunt considerable de restes de cèrvid. L’estudi d’aquest conjunt pot ajudar a comprendre millor la captura i gestió de la fauna salvatge en aquest tipus d’establiment rural. Els resultats indiquen que l’activitat cinegètica es focalitzà fonamentalment en cérvols mascles adults. De fet, l’explotació del cérvol resultà una font de diversos tipus de matèries primeres, com la pell, els tendons, la carn, l’os i la banya. Malgrat tot, la banya també s’obtingué a través de la recol·lecció. Les carcasses foren completament processades, tal i com assenyalen les marques d’escorxament, desmembrament, desarticulació i descarnament. A més, el treball de la banya i l’elaboració de suports en banya es realitzava també a la vil·la. Les parts rebutjades durant el procés de carnisseria i després del consum humà es donaven als gossos. En termes generals, la caça fou una pràctica subsidiària quan es compara amb el volum de productes procedents de la ramaderia. Contràriament, l’activitat cinegètica mostrà un caràcter lúdic que imbuí als propietaris (o als seus villici) de la vil·la d’un estatus preeminent.

Mobility and the Importance of Bone and Bulb Retouchers in the Middle Palaeolithic of the Swabian Jura

Article

Dec 2024

Modifying the form of lithic artifacts through retouch represents a central technological feature of the Middle Palaeolithic, and retouchers made of a variety of materials appear frequently in the archaeological record. Bone and bulb retouchers are the most common types. The first, are often described as ad hoc tools with short use-lives, while researchers have tentatively iden-tified the second as curated artifacts included in the mobile toolkit. Here we present two bulb retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic layers VIII/VII of Sirgenstein Cave in the Ach Valley of the Swabian Jura, and discuss their general characteristics together with bone retouchers re-covered from the same archaeological layers. The data on bone and bulb retouchers from Sir-genstein support the proposed complementary uses of the two types of retouchers. We suggest that the intrinsic properties of bone and flint, together with other aspects specific to the chaînes operatoires of these two materials, played a major role in determining the retouchers’ suitability within toolkits, and can help to explain the high variability in retouching techniques encountered in the Middle Palaeolithic record. Based on these considerations, our study highlights the im-portance of the organization of technology and the potential of retouchers for reconstructing past mobility and settlement dynamics.

浅议中国旧石器时代早中期权宜骨器技术的起源与发展轨迹

Article

Nov 2024

The Earliest Evidence of Deliberate Ivory Processing Dates Back to Around 0.4 Million Years Ago

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2025
INT J OSTEOARCHAEOL

This paper presents data on ivory micro-artifacts discovered in the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 11) horizons of the multilayered Lower Paleolithic site of Medzhibozh A in western Ukraine. These micro-artifacts provide the earliest known reliable evidence for the deliberate modification of proboscidean ivory material using bipolar-on-anvil knapping and trimming techniques. Medzhibozh A, situated in the upper reaches of the Southern Bug Valley, has yielded several artifacts made from the ivory of Mammuthus trogontherii in layers II and I, alongside an archaic core-and-flake industry. Ivory fragments were processed using techniques commonly applied to stone artifact production. A subfossil weathered ivory fragment, already in a knappable state due to its preservation, was used for this purpose. The processed ivory objects included a pointed piece, miniature core-like item, and micro-flakes. The ivory fragments from Medzhibozh A, displaying clear signs of deliberate modification, are unique within the roughly synchronous Paleolithic records of Europe. The use of ivory for knapping by Lower Paleolithic hominins in the western part of the Eastern European Plain may have been influenced by the situational scarcity of high-quality raw materials and experimental efforts to test non-standard materials for their knappability.

Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2025
NATURE

Recent evidence indicates that the emergence of stone tool technology occurred before the appearance of the genus Homo¹ and may potentially be traced back deep into the primate evolutionary line². Conversely, osseous technologies are apparently exclusive of later hominins from approximately 2 million years ago (Ma)3,4, whereas the earliest systematic production of bone tools is currently restricted to European Acheulean sites 400–250 thousand years ago5,6. Here we document an assemblage of bone tools shaped by knapping found within a single stratigraphic horizon at Olduvai Gorge dated to 1.5 Ma. Large mammal limb bone fragments, mostly from hippopotamus and elephant, were shaped to produce various tools, including massive elongated implements. Before our discovery, bone artefact production in pre-Middle Stone Age African contexts was widely considered as episodic, expedient and unrepresentative of early Homo toolkits. However, our results demonstrate that at the transition between the Oldowan and the early Acheulean, East African hominins developed an original cultural innovation that entailed a transfer and adaptation of knapping skills from stone to bone. By producing technologically and morphologically standardized bone tools, early Acheulean toolmakers unravelled technological repertoires that were previously thought to have appeared routinely more than 1 million years later.

Persistent predators: Zooarchaeological evidence for specialized horse hunting at Sch € oningen 13II-4

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2024
J HUM EVOL

The Sch€ oningen 13II-4 site is a marvel of Paleolithic archaeology. With the extraordinary preservation of complete wooden spears and butchered large mammal bones dating from the Middle Pleistocene, Sch€ oningen maintains a prominent position in the halls of human origins worldwide. Here, we present the first analysis of the complete large mammal faunal assemblage from Sch€ oningen 13II-4, drawing on multiple lines of zooarchaeological and taphonomic evidence to expose the full spectrum of hominin activities at the sitedbefore, during, and after the hunt. Horse (Equus mosbachensis) remains dominate the assemblage and suggest a recurrent ambush hunting strategy along the margins of the Sch€ oningen paleo-lake. In this regard, Sch€ oningen 13II-4 provides the first undisputed evidence for hunting of a single prey species that can be studied from an in situ, open-air context. The Sch€ oningen hominins likely relied on cooperative hunting strategy to target horse family groups, to the near exclusion of bachelor herds. Horse kills occurred during all seasons, implying a year-round presence of hominins on the Sch€ oningen landscape. All portions of prey skeletons are represented in the assemblage, many complete and in semiarticulation, with little transport of skeletal parts away from the site. Butchery marks are abundant, and adult carcasses were processed more thoroughly than were juveniles. Numerous complete , unmodified bones indicated that lean meat and marrow were not always so highly prized, especially in events involving multiple kills when fat and animal hides may have received greater attention. The behaviors displayed at Sch€ oningen continue to challenge our perceptions and models of past hominin lifeways, further cementing Sch€ oningen's standing as the archetype for understanding hunting adaptations during the European Middle Pleistocene.

First identification of a Neanderthal bone spear point through an interdisciplinary analysis at Abric Romaní (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2024

Osseous industry has been observed at an increasing number of Neanderthal sites. Bone fragments were used for practical purposes, and a range of bone shaping techniques were employed. The variability of bone tools observed in different assemblages reflects considerable functional diversity. However, no bone spear points have been reported from these contexts. A comprehensive analysis of a bone spear point from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní (Barcelona, Spain) is presented. Through an interdisciplinary, multi-technique, and multi-scale approach combining technology, taphonomy, and functional analysis, compelling evidence for manufacture, use, and hafting was uncovered. The specimen exhibits clear signs of intentional knapping. The presence of microscopic linear impact marks, an impact fracture at the tip and potential internal stress fractures indicate its use as a spear. Furthermore, the observed wear pattern and a morphological adjustment of the trabecular tissue support the hafting hypothesis. Abric Romaní contributes to our understanding of Neanderthal hunting behaviour and the significance of composite bone tools in their technological repertoire 50,000 years ago. This discovery highlights the flexibility and adaptability of Neanderthal technology, providing evidence of bone technology that is sometimes obscured in the archaeological record and offering valuable insights into their hunting strategies during the Middle Palaeolithic.

Back(s) to basics: The concept of backing in stone tool technologies for tracing hominins' technical innovations

Article

Aug 2024
EVOL ANTHROPOL

The evolution of Paleolithic stone tool technologies is characterized by gradual increase in technical complexity along with changes in the composition of assemblages. In this respect, the emergence of retouched‐backed tools is an important step and, for some, a proxy for “modern” behavior. However, backed tools emerge relatively early and develop together with major changes in Middle‐Upper Pleistocene stone tool technologies. We provide an updated review of the emergence and development of the “backing” concept across multiple chrono‐cultural contexts and discuss its relationship to both the emergence of hafting and major evolutionary steps in the ergonomics of stone tool use. Finally, we address potential mechanisms of context‐specific re‐invention of backing based primarily on data from the late Middle Paleolithic of Western Europe.

Residue and microwear analyses of the stone artifacts from Schoningen

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2015

Un outil en os à usages multiples dans un contexte moustérien

Article

Dec 2014

L'industrie ossseuse aurignacienne essai régional de classification: Poitou, Charentes, Périgord (suite)

Article

Jan 1979

C. Leroy-Prost

The depositional environments of Schöningen 13 II-4 and their archaeological implications

Article

Jan 2015

The depositional environments of Schoningen 13 II-4 and their archaeological implications

Article

Jan 2015

Paleoenvironment and possibilities of plant exploitation in the Middle Pleistocene of Schoningen (Germany). Insights from botanical macro-remains and pollen

Article

Jan 2015

Gerlinde Bigga

Réflexion autour de la fonction des retouchoirs en os de l’Aurignacien ancien

Article

Jan 2012

Elise Tartar

Les retouchoirs en os representent le plus ancien outillage en matieres dures animales du Paleolithique europeen. Ils se rencontrent tres frequemment au sein des ensembles mousteriens et perdurent tout au long du Paleolithique superieur. Plusieurs etudes fonctionnelles leur ont ete consacrees et l’hypothese la plus communement admise est celle de leur emploi dans la retouche de tranchants lithiques. Cette hypothese repose toutefois principalement sur l’etude de pieces mousteriennes alors que les exemplaires du Paleolithique superieur, en particulier ceux de l’Aurignacien ancien, presentent des caracteristiques legerement differentes. A partir de l’etude de plusieurs series de l’Aurignacien ancien (l’abri Castanet en Dordogne, la grotte des Hyenes dans les Landes et la grotte Gatzarria dans les Pyrenees-Atlantiques) et d’une reconstitution experimentale, nous montrons que les retouchoirs de cette periode temoignent d’une evolution de leur mode de fonctionnement, liee aux changements operes dans le domaine lithique. Nous envisageons egalement la possibilite de leur emploi dans le debitage lamellaire.

Carbonate Sedimentology

Article

Jan 2008

Ein Mammuknohen-Faustkeil aus Rhede, Kreis Borken (Westfalen)

Article

Jan 1983

G. Tromnau

Interpretation of Micromorphological Features of Soils and Regoliths

Book

Jan 2010

Soil micromorphology deals with the microscopic study of undisturbed soil and regolith samples, making use especially of thin sections and petrographic techniques. It exists as a discipline for almost 70 years. Micromorphology is used by pedologists, quaternary geologists, sedimentologists, and since two decennia intensively by archaeologists. This book provides the state of art in the field of genetic interpretation of micromorphological features, which is not restricted to the classic genetic soil horizons, but also covers processes of soil material formation and weathering, and the results of human activities and regoliths in a wider sense. State of art in the field of genetic interpretation of micromorphological features Over 2,600 different references Written by 46 leading experts in the field.

Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study

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