Plisson, H. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Arrow heads at Obi-Rakhmat (Uzbekistan) 80 ka ago

When they are occasionally found in Middle Palaeolithic Neanderthal settlements, lithic weapons heads are large and do not differ in size, shaping or type from those used for activities other than hunting, such as plant gathering or butchery. The presence in a same assemblage of various types of armatures, some of which are microlithic and designed for this purpose, has only been documented in Modern Humans sites. Recent studies show that light projectile points, which were to become the structuring element of Upper Palaeolithic lithic industries, were already present in its formative stages. However, they remain marginal in debates regarding the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. We present here the first results of a search for weapon heads in the oldest layers of the Obi-Rakhmat rock shelter, at around 80 ka. This site, located in the western foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains, northeastern Uzbekistan, has yielded a blade-based lithic industry which is forming part of the continuity of the Levantine Early Middle Paleolithic but with several innovative traits. The assemblage is based on a systematic blade production (regular thick narrow blades from unipolar and bipolar sub-prismatic and narrow-faced cores, thin and wide blades from flat-faced Levallois-like cores) along with shorter pieces from convergent or centripetal Levallois cores, and bladelets from burin-cores and other small cores. Three types of projectile armature are identified from their impact marks: retouched points, bladelets and raw micropoints which were so far unseen due to their fragmentary state. The micropoints are too narrow for having been fitted to anything other than arrow shafts. They are similar to the armatures described in a pioneer settlement by Sapiens in the Rhone Valley, France, 25,000 years later.

paleontology↗

bioRxiv2023

On the Quina side: A Neanderthal bone industry at Chez-Pinaud site, France

Did Neanderthal produce a bone industry? The recent discovery of a large bone tool assemblage at the Neanderthal site of Chagyrskaya (Altai, Siberia, Russia) and the increasing discoveries of isolated finds of bone tools in various Mousterian sites across Eurasia stimulate the debate. Assuming that the isolate finds may be the tip of the iceberg and that the Siberian occurrence did not result from a local adaptation of easternmost Neanderthals, we looked for evidence of a similar industry in the Western side of their spread area. We assessed the bone tool potential of the Quina bone-bed level currently under excavation at chez Pinaud site (Jonzac, Charente-Maritime, France) and found as many bone tools as flint ones: not only the well-known retouchers but also beveled tools, retouched artifacts and a smooth-ended rib. Their diversity opens a window on a range of activities not expected in a butchering site and not documented by the flint tools, all involved in the carcass processing. The re-use of 20% of the bone blanks, which are mainly from large ungulates among faunal remains largely dominated by reindeer, raises the question of blank procurement and management. From the Altai to the Atlantic shore, through a multitude of sites where only a few objects have been reported so far, evidence of a Neanderthal bone industry is emerging which provides new insights on Middle Paleolithic subsistence strategies.

paleontology↗