Retouched bone tools: which place in Neanderthal technical systems? / Emma Bernard

Retouched bone tools: which place in Neanderthal technical systems? / Emma Bernard, in colloque "1st Virtual Conference for Women Archaeologists and Paleontologists. Nouveaux apports à l’étude des populations et environnements passés" organisé par le laboratoire Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES) de l’Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès et le laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes (PALEVOPRIM) de l'Université de Poitiers, sous la responsabilité scientifique de Julie Bachellerie, Ana Belén Galán López (Traces), Émilie Berlioz et Margot Louail (Palevoprim). Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, 8-9 mars 2021. [Conférence enregistrée à distance].
Session 3 : Exploitation of natural resources and raw materials, subsistence strategies.

Neanderthal have occupied Europe during thousands of years. He disappeared shortly after the arrival of anatomically modern humans, about40,000 years ago. The reasons of his disappearance are debated for years. Some researchers postulate that it is due to a cognitive superiority of the anatomically modern man over Neanderthal. The Late Palaeolithic bone tools, more diversified and standardized, are an argument to define the behavioral modernity of the anatomically modern humans, according to these researchers. Although the last few years have seen the emergence of numerous studies devoted to Neanderthal bone tools, we nevertheless note a great disparity in our knowledge of the different types of tools. A whole part of Neanderthal equipment is still unknown, especially the bone tools which are shaped by percussion, also named “retouched tools”. While some bone tools have very characteristic stigmas, others are less retouched and, therefore, more complicated to understand. These remains are essential in our global understanding of Neanderthal technical systems.
Thus, my PhD work revolves around the discovery of these bone tools, which have sometimes very discreet characters. Today, no specific methodology of analysis has been developed and adapted for this type of remain, which presenting series of removals. Micro-wear analysis are rarely carried out and the pieces are often extracted from their context. Are these stigmas the result of taphonomic processes such as trampling or carnivore activities? Or then, are they theresult of the human action, for example during butchering or retouching activities? To try to answer these questions, we decided to conduct a study of all the faunal remains of the archaeological site of Combe-Grenal (Dordogne), combining archaeology, technology, micro-wear analysis and experimentation.