Palaeolithic
Getting a Handle on Technological Complexity in the Acheulean: Hand-axes Make Excellent High-Energy Hafted Woodworking Tools
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Reconstructing human behavioural complexity from stone tools is a primary concern for the Palaeolithic archaeologist. Two nested challenges exist in this reconstruction. Firstly, inferring the technical processes and bodies of knowledge, which combine with tools to make ‘technology’. Secondly, human technology is uniquely combinatorial, with stone tools possibly part of a more complex tool. The organic elements of such a tool, such as handles and bindings are, however, not preserved. The emergence of combinatorial technology is poorly understood, with a focus on stone points as armatures, characteristic of post-Acheulean periods leading to limited consideration of it within the Acheulean. Using experimental archaeology, here we demonstrate that ...
Event Review: PaleoFest, the Prehistory Festival – Montevarchi (Arezzo, Italy), 4–5 October 2025
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On Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October 2025, Montevarchi (Tuscany, province of Arezzo) hosted PaleoFest, the Prehistory Festival. The event was organized by the Montevarchi Paleontological Museum and the Accademia Valdarnese del Poggio, the institution that owns the museum.
Between Function and Symbolism: Experimental insights from Mghvimevi
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The Mghvimevi engravings represent the oldest known rock art in Georgia, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic. Fieldwork campaigns revealed 30 grooves consisting of parallel and intersecting lines. The nature of these grooves raises questions about whether they represent intentionally produced symbolic art or incidental traces of utilitarian activity. To address this issue, an experimental archaeology project funded by EXARC was undertaken...
Investigation of the Practical Functions of Fluting on Throwing Sticks and on Other Ethnological Wooden Artefacts
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Why are the surfaces of some Australian throwing sticks fluted? According to a previous research, this feature could positively influence their flight, but this effect does not explain the function of fluting on other wooden artefacts (shields, clubs, containers) which are not used as projectiles. The former function of flutes is probably to be found among others type of wooden implements from which it has been transferred to throwing sticks...
Innovative Osseous Technologies of the Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Swabian Jura – The Age of Ivory
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The Swabian Aurignacian is well known for its vast assemblages of functional and symbolic artefacts made from mammoth ivory. This contrasts with the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic technologies that contain sparse evidence for the manufacture and use of tools made from osseous materials. Only with the early Upper Palaeolithic did hominins begin to use ivory for a wide range of tools related to hunting and subsistence, and artefacts used in the symbolic sphere...
Lighting the Dark in The Palaeolithic: Examining Variation in Light between Different Wood Species Using a Randomised Firewood Collection Strategy
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Light produced by fire was a crucial survival tool for Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, enabling the occupation of deep caves and the extension of daylight hours. Previous research using standardised experimental protocols identified variations in the illuminance properties of different wood species, which could be utilised for various tasks as part of fuel selection strategies. However, these standardised experiments, which control for the size and state of the wood and hearth design, do not accurately reflect actual firewood collection and fuel management strategies employed by prehistoric hominins...
Black Ash - a Forgotten Domestication Trait in Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.)
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Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.) is a vegetable plant of minor importance but with a wide distribution throughout the Old World and beyond. Previous research revealed its diverse medicinal and magical importance in prehistory. Here, Orach’s special ability to retain sodium even in non-saline ground is introduced. The outstandingly high concentrations of sodium in dry plant matter and plant ash suggest its use as a salt substitute, manifested in an early domestication trait. Special attention is paid to the variability of this trait in cultivars from different geographic regions and within the genus Atriplex. ..
Simulating Organic Projectile Point Damage to Bison Pelves
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A large Bison sp. pelvis was discovered eroding out of shoreline sediment at American Falls Reservoir in Bingham County, Idaho in 1953. The ischium section had a unique groove and perforation with a depth of 35 mm and 10 mm in diameter. The pelvis was X-rayed in 1961 for indicators of the origin of the damage, but it could not be ascertained, and human agency could not be ruled out. For the research presented here, the pelvis was CT scanned to look for any foreign material in the perforation and to determine the three-dimensional structure...
Cross-Contamination via Stone Tool Use: A Pilot Study of Bifacial Butchery Tools
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The pathogenic environment has been a constant shaping presence in human evolution. Despite its importance, this factor has been given little consideration and research. Here, we use experimental archaeology and microscopic analysis to present and support a novel hypothesis on the pathogenic properties of bifacial butchery tools...
A Scheme of Evolution for Throwing Sticks
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Prehistoric wooden projectiles likely have a complex evolutionary story in a similar way to stone tools, depending on their functions, and the cognitive and physical capabilities of hominins who used them. The technologies of some ancient projectiles (e.g., spears, arrows) can be studied more directly because they were equipped with...