Researchers have documented the use of stone-handled knives over 60,000 years ago

Researchers at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) have documented heavy use stone handle knives for meat activities over 60,000 years ago, after analyzing finds at the Nahal Mahamayem (NMO) exit site on the banks of the Jordan River in Israel.

A study also involving Tel Hai College and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published in the journal Scientific reportsreconstructed the use of stone tools recovered from this open-air site on the left bank of the Jordan River, very close to its mouth in the southern part of the Hula Valley.

Archaeological excavations have unearthed stone tools and animal skeletal remains from over 60,000 years ago, during a cultural period known as the Middle Paleolithic, and researchers say they correspond to a sporadic hunter-gatherer camp.

The special sedimentological characteristics of the site contributed to all these materials being covered by lake sediments, which contributed to their preservation, according to researchers who believe that the remains represent a “moment in the life” of prehistoric hunters, as if they were a photograph of the past, which something unusual for open-air vaults such as this case.

The “exceptional” preservation of the remains allowed the researchers to reconstruct the hunting dynamics of the human populations that gave rise to this accumulation of remains, and to analyze stone tools know how they used them and what materials they used them on.

The NMO deposit was discovered through drainage work on the Jordan River and excavated by a team from Tel Hai College and the Hebrew University led by Prof. Gonen Sharon.

These drainage works and subsequent excavations uncovered a large number of animal remains of various sizes, from rhinos to birds, fish and crabs.

According to IPHES researchers, the Middle Paleolithic hunters of the NMO hunted and processed deer, goitered gazelles, wild boars, and even turtles that were found during excavations, as well as the flint tools used to process them.

With the help of microscopy under the direction of Juan Ignacio Martín-Viveros (IPHES), they were able to carry out trace analysis, an archaeological discipline to detect the functionality of stone tools found in archaeological sites.

“Break with traditional patterns”

Martin-Viveros explained that, according to the work done with a certain stone toolits edges have some type of wear and tear by which, through experimental archeology and the use of electron microscopes, they were able to identify the materials on which they were used.

The study showed that most of stone tools those found were used as butchering knives, and even tools traditionally associated with throwing points, such as Levallois points (a type of flake), were also used for carcass processing and, to a lesser extent, in works related to leather and vegetables.

“This aspect is very relevant, as it breaks with traditional schemes in which the aiming gun is associated with the point of the projectile. This was not the case with the NMO. This type of sighting guns were adjusted before arriving at the place and they were used not for hunting animals, but for butchering when they were already dead, ”the researchers specify.

One of the most amazing data they have extracted from trace analysis stone tools is that most of them received mangoes, which, according to the researchers, shows that these populations had very good control over this type of technological resources and, above all, that these technological advances were planned before gaining access to the field for animal processing.

(As reported by EFE)

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