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A study of 1,300 stone hand axes found at 80 Neanderthal sites in France
Britain and the Netherlands shows that two cultural traditions existed among Neanderthals living in what is now northern Europe between 115,000 to 35,000 years ago
Location of the study sites and Neanderthal cultures: Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition
and transitional – Mousterian with Bifacial Tools
Two separate hand axe traditions or designs existed – the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition in a region now spanning south-western France and Britain and the Keilmessergruppen Tradition in Germany and further to the East, according to study author Dr Karen Ruebens from the University of Southampton, who reported the results in the Journal of Human Evolution
She also identified an area covering modern day Belgium and the Netherlands that demonstrates a transition between the two
“In Germany and France there appears to be two separate hand axe traditions
independent developments,” Dr Ruebens commented
“The transition zone in Belgium and Northern France indicates contact between the different groups of Neanderthals
which is generally difficult to identify but has been much talked about
especially in relation to later contacts with groups of modern humans.”
“This area can be seen as a melting pot of ideas where mobile groups of Neanderthals
both from the eastern and western tradition
would pass by – influencing each other’s designs and leaving behind a more varied record of bifacial tools.”
Neanderthals in the western region made symmetrical
they produced asymmetrically shaped bifacial knives
Left: Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition hand axes
from top to bottom – cordiform hand axe from Le Moustier
Right: Keilmessergruppen Tradition hand axes
from top to bottom – keilmesser from Sesselfesgrotte
“Distinct ways of making a hand axe were passed on from generation to generation and for long enough to become visible in the archaeological record
This indicates a strong mechanism of social learning within these two groups and says something about the stability and connectivity of the Neanderthal populations,” Dr Ruebens said
“Making stone tools was not merely an opportunistic task
effort and tradition were invested and these tools carry a certain amount of socio-cultural information
which does not contribute directly to their function.”
The analysis also reveals other factors which could have influenced hand axe design
such as raw material availability to Neanderthals
or the repeated reuse and sharpening of tools – didn’t have an impact in this instance
The study adds a new archaeological perspective on Neanderthal regionality
which is a concept also identified in studies of their skeletal and genetic features
Regional behaviour among late Neanderthal groups in Western Europe: A comparative assessment of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool variability