Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Abstract

Excavations for the construction of thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tuscany, central Italy) exposed a series of wooden tools in an open-air stratified site referable to late Middle Pleistocene. The wooden artifacts were uncovered, together with stone tools and fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant The site is radiometrically dated to around 171,000 y B.P., and hence correlated with the early marine isotope stage 6 [Benvenuti M, et al. (2017) 88:327-344]. The sticks, all fragmentary, are made from boxwood () and were over 1 m long, rounded at one end and pointed at the other. They have been partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique so far not documented at the time. The wooden artifacts have the size and features of multipurpose tools known as "digging sticks," which are quite commonly used by foragers. This discovery from Poggetti Vecchi provides evidence of the processing and use of wood by early Neanderthals, showing their ability to use fire in tool making from very tough wood.

Direct evidence of Neanderthal fibre technology and its cognitive and behavioral implications

“…Furthermore, the production of cordage implies a cognitive understanding of numeracy and context sensitive operational memory. Given the ongoing revelations of Neanderthal art and technology 2,45,46 , it is difficult to see how we can regard Neanderthals as anything other than the cognitive equals of modern humans.…”

The complexity of Neanderthal technology

“…Aranguren et al (4) report a set of wooden artifacts from a 170,000-y-old Middle Paleolithic occupation in central Italy. The artifacts, which were preserved in calcareous mudstone deposited along a lake margin, include roughly 40 pieces of modified boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), interpreted as "digging sticks."…”

Bacteria in the ageing gut: did the taming of fire promote a long human lifespan?

“…This includes so‐called essential amino acids, vitamins (many coenzymes and prosthetic groups), critical metal ions and basic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur supplies. In this context, the creation of tools, already present in some animal species [in particular Corvidae birds or apes (McGrew, )], was developed by our predecessors as a never ending process, including via the use of fire (Aranguren et al ., ). Tools indeed helped our ancestors in collecting and processing food (Richards, ; Bocherens et al ., ; Mercader, ) and this had considerable consequences in the build‐up of our microbiota (Spreadbury, ).…”