Neanderthals collected clam shells and pumice from coastal waters to use as tools
Neanderthals are known to have used tools, but the extent to which they were able to exploit coastal resources has been questioned. In this study,1Villa and colleagues explored artifacts from the Neanderthal archaeological cave site of Grotta dei Moscerini in Italy, one of two Neanderthal sites in the country with an abundance of hand-modified clam shells, dating back to around 100,000 years ago.
These findings join a growing list of evidence that Neanderthals in Western Europe were in the practice of wading or diving into coastal waters to collect resources long before Homo sapiens brought these habits to the region. The authors also note that shell tools were abundant in sediment layers that had few stone tools, suggesting Neanderthals might have turned to making shell tools during times where more typical stone materials were scarce (though it's also possible that clam shells were used because they have a thin and sharp cutting edge, which can be maintained through re-sharpening, unlike flint tools).
- 1. Writing in the journal Plos One, Villa and colleagues note the new study is not the first to suggest Neanderthals were comfortable in the water. It has recently been found that Neanderthals had “surfer’s ear”, a bony growth in the external ear canal that forms in response to repeated exposure to cold water or wind.
“Taken together, there is evidence to build a case that some Neanderthal individuals or populations might have been diving for aquatic resources,” said Dr Matthew Pope, a Neanderthal researcher at the UCL Institute of Archaeology who was not involved in the new study.
Pope added the use of marine resources, and flexibility in tool use, has generally been seen as a “modern” behaviour and linked to the emergence of our own species. However, previous finds at some other sites have suggested Neanderthals gathered shellfish and used them to make tools, adding further weight to claims that the stereotype of knuckle-headed Neanderthals is misguided. (Source: The Guardian)
Paola Villa, Sylvain Soriano, Luca Pollarolo, Carlo Smriglio, Mario Gaeta, Massimo D’Orazio, Jacopo Conforti, Carlo Tozzi. Neandertals on the beach: Use of marine resources at Grotta dei Moscerini (Latium, Italy). PLOS ONE, 2020; 15 (1): e0226690
Abstract: Excavated in 1949, Grotta dei Moscerini, dated MIS 5 to early MIS 4, is one of two Italian Neandertal sites with a large assemblage of retouched shells (n = 171) from 21 layers. The other occurrence is from the broadly contemporaneous layer L of Grotta del Cavallo in southern Italy (n = 126). Eight other Mousterian sites in Italy and one in Greece also have shell tools but in a very small number. The shell tools are made on valves of the smooth clam Callista chione. The general idea that the valves of Callista chione were collected by Neandertals on the beach after the death of the mollusk is incomplete. At Moscerini 23.9% of the specimens were gathered directly from the sea floor as live animals by skin diving Neandertals. Archaeological data from sites in Italy, France and Spain confirm that shell fishing and fresh water fishing was a common activity of Neandertals, as indicated by anatomical studies recently published by E. Trinkaus. Lithic analysis provides data to show the relation between stone tools and shell tools. Several layers contain pumices derived from volcanic eruptions in the Ischia Island or the Campi Flegrei (prior to the Campanian Ignimbrite mega-eruption). Their rounded edges indicate that they were transported by sea currents to the beach at the base of the Moscerini sequence. Their presence in the occupation layers above the beach is discussed. The most plausible hypothesis is that they were collected by Neandertals. Incontrovertible evidence that Neandertals collected pumices is provided by a cave in Liguria. Use of pumices as abraders is well documented in the Upper Paleolithic. We prove that the exploitation of submerged aquatic resources and the collection of pumices common in the Upper Paleolithic were part of Neandertal behavior well before the arrival of modern humans in Western Europe.
Keywords: Paleoanthropology, Pumice, Archaeology, Neanderthals, Teeth, Lithic technology, Stratigraphy, Archaeological dating
