Neanderthals were the first to make standardized and specialized tools in Europe

Aug 13, 2013 20:11 GMT  ·  By
Evidence suggests Neanderthals used to craft specialized bone tools, use them to make leather smoother and more resistant to rain
   Evidence suggests Neanderthals used to craft specialized bone tools, use them to make leather smoother and more resistant to rain

Evidence recently uncovered by archaeologists suggests that Neanderthals living in Europe thousands of years ago were the first to manufacture and make use of certain types of tools that were both standardized and specialized.

Furthermore, specialists argue that, all things considered, it is likely that Neanderthals were the ones who taught modern humans how to make and use these tools.

Writing in yesterday's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers detail the discovery of several 51,000-year-old specialized deer bone tools known as lissoirs or smoothers.

The tools were discovered in southwest France, and served to make leather softer and more water-resistant.

Interestingly enough, such tools, pictured next to this article, are still used by some leather workers in various parts of the world.

The specialized tools are known to have been extensively used by modern humans.

However, the age of these newly discovered relics indicates that, contrary to popular opinion, modern humans were not the ones who created them.

On the contrary, since the tools predate the documented arrival of modern humans in Europe, they must have been manufactured by Neanderthals roaming the continent about 50 millennia ago.

“For now the bone tools from these two sites are one of the better pieces of evidence we have for Neanderthals developing on their own a technology previously associated only with modern humans,” specialist Shannon McPherron reportedly explains.

“If Neanderthals developed this type of bone tool on their own, it is possible that modern humans then acquired this technology from Neanderthals.

“Modern humans seem to have entered Europe with pointed bone tools only, and soon after started to make lissoirs. This is the first possible evidence for transmission from Neanderthals to our direct ancestors,” researcher Marie Soressi further details.

Neanderthals in Europe were replaced by modern humans nearly 40,000 years ago. Some argue that the former displayed cultural capabilities long before coming in contact with the latter.

However, others disagree and maintain that Neanderthals only started showing signs of developing a culture after they had become acquainted with modern humans.