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Bone tools, carnivore chewing and heavy percussion: assessing conflicting interpretations of Lower and Upper Palaeolithic bone assemblages
Full text linkThe use of bone tools by early humans has provided valuable insights into their technology, behaviour and cognitive abilities. However, identifying minimally modified or unshaped Palaeolithic osseous tools can be challenging, particularly when they are mixed with bones altered by natural taphonomic processes. This has hampered the study of key technical innovations, such as the use of bones, antlers and teeth as hammers or pressure-flakers to work (knap) stone tools. Bones chewed by carnivores can resemble osseous knapping tools and have sometimes been mistaken for them. In this paper, we review recent advances in the study of osseous knapping tools with a focus on two Palaeolithic sites in the UK, the Acheulean Horse Butchery Site at Boxgrove and the Magdalenian site of Gough's Cave, where knapping tools were mis-attributed to carnivore chewing. These osseous knapping tools are investigated using microscopy, high-resolution imaging and comparisons with experimental knapping tools. This allows for new insights into human behaviour at these sites and opens fresh avenues for future research.© 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Knapping tools in Magdalenian contexts: New evidence from Gough’s Cave (Somerset, UK)
Full text linkOur knowledge of the recolonization of north-west Europe at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum depends to a large extent on finds from Gough’s Cave (Somerset, UK). Ultra-high resolution radiocarbon determinations suggest that the cave was occupied seasonally by Magdalenian hunters for perhaps no more than two or three human generations, centred on 12,600 BP (~14,950–14,750 cal BP). They left behind a rich and diverse assemblage of Magdalenian lithic and osseous artefacts, butchered animal bones, and cannibalised human remains. The faunal assemblage from Gough’s Cave is one of the most comprehensively studied from any Magdalenian site, yet new and unexpected discoveries continue to be made. Here, we record previously unrecognized flint-knapping tools that were identified during a survey of the Gough’s Cave faunal collection at the Natural History Museum (London). We identified bones used as hammers and teeth manipulated as pressure-flakers to manufacture flint tools. Most of the pieces appear to be ad hoc (single-use?) tools, but a horse molar was almost certainly a curated object that was used over an extended period to work many stone tools. This paper explores how these knapping tools were used to support a more nuanced understanding of Magdalenian stone-tool manufacturing processes. Moreover, we provide a standard for identifying minimally-used knapping tools that will help to establish whether retouchers and other organic stone-working tools are as rare in the Magdalenian archaeological record as current studies suggest.Copyright: © 2021 Bello et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Lithium Inventory of the Cerro Galán Volcanic System (Argentina): The Role of Magmatism as a Source for Li-Bearing Brine Deposits
No full textAbstract: Lithium-rich brines in South America’s Li triangle host Earth’s largest Li reserves, crucial for the global energy transition. Although Cenozoic magmatism near salars in the Li triangle often is considered as a major potential Li source, there is limited characterization of Li behavior in these magmatic systems. To address this, we present the first detailed Li study of the voluminous ignimbrites within the Cerro Galán volcanic system, a potential Li source for the Salar del Hombre Muerto, which is actively producing Li for batteries. Although most Cerro Galán volcanic system units exhibit normal Li concentrations in groundmass glass (30–50 ppm) relative to rhyolitic centers globally, the ~630-km3 Cerro Galán ignimbrite contains glass with significantly higher Li contents (>90 ppm), reflecting increased melt differentiation. Throughout the volcanic system, plagioclase and quartz display varied Li contents influenced by syneruptive degassing, and additionally for plagioclase, posteruptive modifications. Biotites in the Cerro Galán volcanic system are magmatic and range from 1 to 689 ppm Li, with biotites returning low analytical totals (low total biotites) enriched in Li, Pb, and Cs, consistent with the entrapment of an Li-rich magmatic volatile phase during biotite crystallization. Such a magmatic volatile phase is isotopically light (δ7Li as low as –23‰) and may reach 10,000 ppm Li according to binary mixing modeling. We propose that large magmatic centers, like the Cerro Galán volcanic system, may sustain exsolution of such a magmatic volatile phase and its transport through caldera-hosted hydrothermal systems. When such volcanic centers overlap with closed-basin watershed, magmatic Li-rich fluids could be selectively transported into basins, representing a source for Li-bearing salars, such as in the Salar del Hombre Muerto situated near the Cerro Galán volcanic system.Copyright © 2025 Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY-NC licenseNHM Repositor
Was Gilbert White the first to use an ‘X’ as a kiss?
No full textThe attached file is the accepted version of the article. You are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.NHM Repositor
Cut from the same cloth? Comparing Neanderthal processing of faunal resources at Amud and Kebara caves (Israel) through cut-marks analyses
Full text linkAmud and Kebara caves (northern Israel) are two broadly contemporaneous Middle Paleolithic sites dated to ca. 70–50 Ka BP, both located in the Mediterranean realm of the southern Levant. Neanderthal occupations at these sites are represented by considerable amounts of lithic artifacts, combustion features and abundant faunal material as well as human remains. As similar mammalian taxonomic distributions were observed in these two Neanderthal cave sites, we explore the complexity and diversity of their animal resources processing techniques by comparing cut-marks characteristics and patterns. A total of 344 animal bone fragments bearing cut-marks were selected from specific stratigraphic contexts from both sites, and studied using macroscopic and microscopic techniques (i.e., Focus Variation microscopy) to quantify, characterize, and measure the cut-marks left on the bones. The observations were compared across the stratigraphic units and between the sites. Despite comparable taxonomic distributions, there are notable differences in the density and layout of cut-marks between the two caves. The micro-morphometric characteristics of these marks also highlight intra- and inter-site differences and similarities. This evidence might suggest distinctive butchering strategies between the Neanderthal populations in Amud and Kebara caves despite comparable occupation intensities, similar lithic technologies, and access to similar food resources. Such discrepancies could possibly reflect inter-group cultural differences related to carcass processing preferences, organization of tasks within the group, or socially transmitted traditions.COPYRIGHT © 2025 Jallon, Cret´ e, Bello, Hovers and ´Rabinovich. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK
Full text linkAbstract: The exceptional survival of Middle Pleistocene wooden spears at Schöningen (Germany) and Clacton-on-Sea (UK) provides tantalizing evidence for the widespread use of organic raw materials by early humans. At Clacton, less well-known organic artefacts include modified bones that were identified by the Abbé Henri Breuil in the 1920s. Some of these pieces were described and figured by Hazzledine Warren in his classic 1951 paper on the flint industry from the Clacton Channel, but they have been either overlooked in subsequent studies or dismissed as the product of natural damage. We provide the first detailed analysis of two Clactonian bone tools found by Warren and a previously unrecognized example recovered in 1934 during excavations directed by Mary Leakey. Microscopic examination of percussion damage suggests the bones were used as knapping hammers to shape or resharpen flake tools. Early Palaeolithic bone tools are exceedingly rare, and the Clacton examples are the earliest known organic knapping hammers associated with a core-and-flake (Mode 1) lithic technology. The use of soft hammers for knapping challenges the consensus that Clactonian flintknapping was undertaken solely with hard hammerstones, thus removing a major technological and behavioural difference used to distinguish the Clactonian from late Acheulean handaxe (Mode 2) industries.Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
The earliest elephant-bone tool from Europe: An unexpected raw material for precision knapping of Acheulean handaxes
Full text linkOrganic knapping tools made from bone, antler, and wood were essential to early human toolkits but are rarely preserved in the archeological record. The earliest known soft hammers, dating to ~480,000 years ago, come from Boxgrove (UK), where modified antlers and large mammal bones were used alongside flint hard hammers. These tools facilitated complex knapping techniques, such as platform preparation and tranchet flake removal, contributing to the production of finely worked ovate handaxes typical of the Boxgrove Acheulean industry. This study presents a cortical bone fragment from an elephant, deliberately shaped into a percussor for resharpening flint tools. It represents the earliest known use of elephant bone in Europe and the first documented case of its use as a knapping hammer. Reconstructing its life history offers further insights into Middle Pleistocene hominin technological adaptations, resourcefulness, and survival strategies that enabled humans to endure harsh northern environments.Copyright © 2026 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Artists on the edge of the world: An integrated approach to the study of Magdalenian engraved stone plaquettes from Jersey (Channel Islands)
Full text linkThe Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by the appearance of iconographic expressions most often depicting animals, including anthropomorphic forms, and geometric signs. The Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian saw a flourishing of such depictions, encompassing cave art, engraving of stone, bone and antler blanks and decoration of tools and weapons. Though Magdalenian settlement exists as far northwest as Britain, there is a limited range of art known from this region, possibly associated with only fleeting occupation of Britain during this period. Stone plaquettes, flat fragments of stone engraved on at least one surface, have been found in large quantities at numerous sites spanning the temporal and geographical spread of the Magdalenian, but they have been absent so far from the archaeological record of the British Isles. Between 2015 and 2018, ten fragments of stone plaquettes extensively engraved with abstract designs were uncovered at the Magdalenian site of Les Varines, Jersey, Channel Islands. In this paper, we report detailed analyses of these finds, which provide new evidence for technologies of abstract mark-making, and their significance within the lives of people on the edge of the Magdalenian world. These engraved stone fragments represent important, rare evidence of artistic expression in what is the far northern and western range of the Magdalenian and add new insight to the wider significance of dynamic practices of artistic expression during the Upper Palaeolithic.Copyright: © 2020 Bello et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Participatory soil citizen science: An unexploited resource for European soil research
No full textAbstractSoils are key components of our ecosystems and provide 95%–99% of our food. This importance is reflected by an increase in participatory citizen science projects on soils. Citizen science is a participatory research method that actively involves and engages the public in scientific enquiry to generate new knowledge or understanding. Here, we review past and current citizen science projects on agricultural soils across Europe. We conducted a web‐based survey and described 24 reviewed European citizen science projects in the light of the 10 principles of citizen science and identified success factors for citizen science. Over 66% of the projects generated soil biodiversity data; 54% and 42% of the projects generated data on vegetation cover and soil organic carbon, respectively. Our findings show that soil citizen science projects aligned with the 10 principles of citizen science offer an unexploited resource for European soil health research. We conclude that promoting co‐creation, fostering knowledge‐sharing networks and enabling long‐term communication and commitment with citizens are success factors for further development of citizen science on soils.NHM RepositoryCopyright © 2024 The Authors. European Journal of Soil Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Society of Soil Science.https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13470This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providedthe original work is properly cited. The linked file is the publlished version of the articl
Reviving the sound of a 150-year-old insect: The bioacoustics of Prophalangopsis obscura (Ensifera: Hagloidea)
No full textDetermining the acoustic ecology of extinct or rare species is challenging due to the inability to record their acoustic signals or hearing thresholds. Katydids and their relatives (Orthoptera: Ensifera) offer a model for inferring acoustic ecology of extinct and rare species, due to allometric parameters of their sound production organs. Here, the bioacoustics of the orthopteran Prophalangopsis obscura are investigated. This species is one of only eight remaining members of an ancient family with over 90 extinct species that dominated the acoustic landscape of the Jurassic. The species is known from only a single confirmed specimen–the 150-year-old holotype material housed at the London Natural History Museum. Using Laser-Doppler Vibrometry, 3D surface scanning microscopy, and known scaling relationships, it is shown that P. obscura produces a pure-tone song at a frequency of ~4.7 kHz. This frequency range is distinct but comparable to the calls of Jurassic relatives, suggesting a limitation of early acoustic signals in insects to sonic frequencies (<20 kHz). The acoustic ecology and importance of this species in understanding ensiferan evolution, is discussed.Copyright: © 2022 Woodrow et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The linked file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor