NEANDERTHAL CULTURE & TOOLS

==Neanderthal Tools== Neanderthal (''Middle Paleolithic'') tools were far more advanced and varied than those of ''Homo erectus''. They used a wider variety of materials including stone, bone and wood. Micro-wear studies show that tools were used to work wood and it's likely that Neanderthals produced some composite tools (tools made of more then one material). Neanderthals also produced a much wider range of tools with tool kits included up to 40 different types, many of which appear to have had specialized functions. Many of their tools were scrapers which may have been used to scrape animal hides for clothing. ===Mousterian Tools=== Neanderthal tools are more difficult to produce than Acheulean tools, requiring a much higher degree of preparation and planning. Neanderthals used a technique called '''Levallois flaking''' whereby a stone core is first prepared and then a larger oval flake is removed and further refined. [image:http://i.imgur.com/paC6C13.gif] '''The Levallois technique''' '''1)''' The core circumference is first prepared by striking chips away at the edge of the pebble. '''2)''' Each of the flat surfaces so created is then struck at right angles, producing a kind of ‘tortoise’ shape. '''3)''' A large flake is struck from the prepared core to produce the actual tool. [image:http://i.imgur.com/13dC3Wm.gif?1] Mousterian tools tools were produced widely throughout Europe from around 300 000 years ago. The result is a tool with razor shape edges. However, more interestingly, until the final blow the tool only exists in the mind of the toolmaker, so it demands considerable foresight and intelligence. Flint became the material of choice because of the predictable way in which it chips when struck and the incredibly sharp edges it can produce. Other materials such as bone may have been used to produce these tools. Striking the core with a slightly softer material such as bone (soft hammer percussion) gave more control over where the stone would fracture. ===Châtelperronian Tools=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/U7SIzW8.png?1] The Châtelperronian industry (tool culture) represents a transition from middle paleolithic to the upper paleolithic tools commonly associated with the earliest humans. These tools show an even greater sophistication and wider range of materials such as shell or bone body ornaments and a bone flute. However there has been vigorous debate as to weather the Neanderthals actually made these items or if they were stolen from anatomically modern humans. Recent evidence suggests that they were produced by Neanderthals, but only after modern humans introduced these behaviours, suggesting there was some cultural exchange. ==Social Structure & Burial== Neanderthals probably had a language (the nature of which is debated). DNA from Neanderthal bones indicates that Neanderthals had the same version of the FOXP2 gene as modern humans. This gene is known to play a role in human language, but is not conclusive evidence of a complex language. Neanderthals would have been formidable hunters, using stone-tipped wooden spears, knives and pole axes to hunt animals such as the woolly mammoth. There is also evidence that they constructed traps and they were probably largely carnivorous with most of their protein coming from animal meet. Hunting such large animals would have been a team effort requiring greater social skills and communication. [image:http://i.imgur.com/o0X32d6.png?1] Neanderthals controlled fire, constructed complex shelters, and skinned animals. In the Ukraine, evidence of a Neanderthal structure made of mammoth skulls, jaws, tusks and leg bones suggests that they lived in large, complex social groups. This particular building contained 25 hearths (fire sites). Skeletal finds including an older individual without teeth suggest that Neanderthals lived in complex social structures in which the disabled and elderly were cared for by the group. [image:http://i.imgur.com/FOdRFcB.png?1] Neanderthals buried their dead, sometimes with large parts of an animal and tools. Some argue that this suggests Neanderthals may have believed in life after death. In some cases pollen grains of once colourful flower have been found with some Neanderthal skeletons, suggesting they were buried with flowers. ==Art & Symbolism== [image:http://i.imgur.com/6CDHoth.png?2] There is very little evidence of art and symbolism on behalf of the Neanderthals. That element of culture is generally associated with fully modern humans in the past 50,000 years or so, but there are rare occurrences of art. Examples of grooved or perforated animal teeth, polished ivory, and geometrically incised bone and ivory can be found at Neanderthal sites. Note the small holes in these ornaments -evidence of more sophisticated tool use. [image:http://i.imgur.com/cQsIYBM.png?3] Five different musical instruments have been associated with Neanderthals including a cave bear-bone flute from Slovenia. It is also possible that some cave paintings and small carved figurines are the works of Neanderthals, however they are generally dated to periods that correspond to the appearance of anatomically modern humans. Debate continues as to whether or not they could have been produced by the Neanderthals.