The Marvels Of Neanderthal Technology // A Documentary On Neanderthals Technological Achievements

[INSTRUCTOR] With
a few exceptions,

such as the Schöningen
Spears and the finds of

wooden tools at Poggetti Vecchi,
almost all of our knowledge

about the Middle Paleolithic
comes from durable materials

such as bone and stone.

We know from observations
of our own surroundings that

most of the material culture
of humans is comprised of

perishable materials.

Previously, researchers
have demonstrated that the

microenvironment immediately
surrounding a stone tool can

preserve microscopic fragments
of what is otherwise invisible.

This is true for the
preservation of a three-ply

string fragment stuck to
a stone tool from Abri du

Maras labelled G8 128,
which demonstrates that the

cord is at least contemporary
with the deposition and burial

of the flake and is therefore
of middle Paleolithic origin.

Examination of photomicrographs
revealed three bundles of fiber

with S-twists, which is when a
yarn is spun counterclockwise,

which were then plied together
with a Z-twist, which is when

the yarn is spun clockwise,
to form a three-ply cord.

Doing this locks the fibers
together and prevents

it from unravelling,
creating an exponentially

stronger material.

It's the same engineering we
find today, with metal cables

holding up suspension bridges
or rope on sailing ships.

The cord is approximately
6.2 millimeters in length

and approximately 0.5
millimeters in width.

Wood fibers have also
been found at the site,

some of which show signs
of cordage manufacturing

but not sufficient enough to
come to a final conclusion.

So far, G8 128 is the
only concrete evidence

we have of Neanderthals
use of fiber technology.

The cord is not necessarily
related to the use of tools.

If it was buried at the
same time as the flake,

it could have been wrapped
around it as part of a haft

or could even have been
part of a net or bag.

Hafting is the process
of attaching a tool to

a handle or strap, like a
stone arrowhead or axe head.

Previous analysis of impact
fractures on artifacts from

the site suggests the use of
hafting and provides support

for this possibility.

If it was deposited
before the flake,

it could represent a
number of different items,

but still illustrates the use
of fiber technology at the site.

In terms of actual preservation
of fiber technology, the Upper

Paleolithic Waterlogged Site of
Ohalo II yielded three fragments

of fibers with a Z-twist,
approximately 19,000 years old.

Remnants of a six-ply cord
were found at Lascaux and

date to approximately 17,000
years old, both of which are

attributed to Homo sapiens.

The cord fragment from Abri du
Maras is older still, dating to

between 41 and 52,000 years ago.

It appears increasingly likely
that fiber technology is much

older than previously thought.

This discovery is
exciting enough,

as organic technologies
are usually long rotted away.

But impressive technology like
this also gives us gratifying

glimpses into Neanderthal minds.

Making strong string is unlikely
to have been invented just in

that instance by one individual.

It's more likely that the
community knowledge of the

technique was acquired and
passed on through imitation

or direct instruction from
generation to generation.

(upbeat music)

While it is clear that the cord
from Abri du Maras demonstrates

Neanderthal's ability to
manufacture cordage, it hints at

a much larger fiber technology.

Once the production of a
twisted, plied cord has been

accomplished, it is possible
to manufacture bags, mats, nets,

fabric, baskets, structures,
snares, and even watercraft.

The cord from Abri du Maras
likely consists of fibers

derived from conifers.

The fibrous layer of the inner
bark is referred to as bast and

eventually hardens to form bark.

In order to make cordage,
Neanderthals had extensive

knowledge of the growth and
seasonality of these trees.

Bast fibers are easier
to separate from the

bark and the underlying
wood in early spring as

the sap begins to rise.

Ropes and baskets are
central to a large number

of human activities.

They facilitate the transport
and storage of food, aiding the

design of tools for fishing or
perhaps used to make objects

for recreational needs such
as dolls for children.

The technological and artistic
applications of twisted fiber

technologies are vast.

Once adopted,
fiber technology would

have been indispensable
and would have been a big

part of everyday life.

Fiber acquisition, processing,
and production may have

also played an important
role in scheduling daily

and seasonal activities.

(upbeat music)

Although wooden artifacts
are rare, other finds do

attest to Neanderthals'
detailed knowledge of trees.

They chose boxwood for its
density and used fire in

the production of digging
sticks at Poggetti Vecchi

approximately 175,000 years ago.

In the construction of
the Schöningen Spears,

they de-centered the
point to increase strength.

Furthermore, Neanderthals were
manufacturing birch bark tar

and using it as an adhesive in
the middle Pleistocene of Italy.

Based on this evidence,
the utilization of bast

fibers from trees is an
obvious outcome of their

intimate arboreal knowledge.

The production of cordage
requires an understanding

of mathematical concepts and
general numeracy in the creation

of sets of elements and pairs of
numbers to create a structure.

Although this is the oldest
direct evidence of cordage,

there is older evidence that
exists in the form of jewellery.

In my last video we discussed
the findings of both eagle

talons and seashells which
were both from separate sites.

What was fascinating about
these finds was that they

displayed evidence of the
use of string or some material

to hold them together like
a necklace or bracelet.

The eagle talons are the oldest
of the two and date to 130,000

years ago while the seashells
date to 115,000 years ago.

Humans have been making
stone tools for well

over 3.3 million years.

Spanning half of this
time, stone tools were

unsophisticated and were
fashioned only when needed.

But about 1.5 million years
ago, something began to change.

Our ancestors started
making stone tools that

were more standardized,
often in the form of

teardrop-shaped axes.

These tools were labelled
Acheulean tools, and were

both more durable, effective,
and versatile than the

older Oldowan tools.

But the innovation of our human
ancestors didn't stop there.

After the rise of the Acheulean
industrial era which spanned

over a million years, a better,
more sophisticated technique

was introduced by Neanderthals
called the Levallois technique.

Named after the archaeological
site at outside of Paris where

the technique was first
recognized and described

by archaeologists in the
1860s, the process allows

a toolmaker to create a tool
of predictable size and shape.

For the Levallois technique,
the toolmaker takes an

oblong, relatively flat,
flint nodule and strikes

flakes off the thinner
side of the core all the

way round its circumference.

They then flip the nodule
over and strike flakes

off its front side,
then flip it again to

do the same on the back.

Finally, after a lot
of such preparation,

the toolmaker strikes one end
of the core to remove a large

and distinctive Levallois flake.

Properly prepared,
such a core can yield

several flakes of predictable
size and shape, all of which

can be used as tools.

Archaeologists have
therefore pointed to its

appearance as a watershed
moment in human cognition.

The degree of foresight
and planning required to

create a Levallois core
is far greater than that

required for all previous
stone tool technologies,

including hand axes.

But why is this important?

It's important because
for the first time we can

see our ancestors focused
on an abstract concept,

a flake of predictable
size and shape that did

not become clear until the
final the Levallois flake

was removed from the core.

The Levallois technique is
also associated with two

other hominin populations,
late Homo heidelbergensis

and Homo sapiens.

All three species of humans
span throughout Asia,

North Africa and Europe,
and this is where we find

the Levallois technique.

It's thought, however,
that these populations

developed this technique
independently and was not

a result of communication
or imitation between species.

In Armenia, archaeologists
found a series of artefacts

preserved in deep layers.

The artefacts were dated at 325
to 335,000 years old and were a

mix of two distinct stone tool
technology traditions, bifacial

tools and Levallois tools.

Anthropology professor
and co-director of the

excavations, Daniel Adler,
suggests that the coexistence

of bifacial and Levallois
tools at the site provides

the first clear evidence that
local populations developed

Levallois technology out of
existing bifacial technology,

and that the artefacts found
at the site reflect the

technological flexibility
and variability of a

single population.

Whether humans developed this
technique independently or

not, we will never truly know.

But what we do know is that
the replacement of bifacial

stone tools such as hand axes by
tools made from flakes detached

from Levallois cores documents
the most important conceptual

shift in stone tool production
strategies since the arrival of

bifacial technology more than
1 million years earlier and as

the ever evidence suggests it
was started by Neanderthals.

There is very little doubt that
many ancient civilizations had

good navigational and sailing
skills given the long

history of the sea.

Ancient civilizations
built several maritime

routes and traded goods
like spices, gold, silk,

and many other commodities after
realizing the benefits of trade.

With suggestions that Homo
erectus conquered the sea,

it will come as no surprise
to you when I say that Homo

sapiens may have not been
the first humans to set sail.

Currently, the oldest boat to
be found is the Pesse Canoe,

which was found in the
Netherlands dating to

roughly 10,000 years old.

We find little evidence of
boats being used before this,

because they would have
been made from perishable

materials like wood and rope.

The stone and bone that is so
common in the archaeological

record wouldn't have been used
in the boat's construction,

therefore we can't necessarily
rely on archaeological evidence

to back this theory.

We must look at other pieces
of evidence like the migration

of humans and take into context
what the land would have

looked like at the time.

Stone tools that are uniquely
associated with Neanderthals

have been found on islands
in the Mediterranean Sea,

suggesting that Neanderthals
had figured out how

to travel by boat.

Neanderthals lived
around the Mediterranean

from 300,000 years ago.

Their distinctive Mousterian
stone tools are found on the

Greek mainland and, unusually,
have been also found on the

Greek islands of Lefkada,
Kefalonia, and Zakynthos.

The journeys to the
Greek islands from the

mainland were quite short,
five to 12 kilometers.

But according to Thomas
Strasser of Providence

College in Rhode Island,
the Neanderthals

didn't stop there.

In 2008 he found similar stone
tools on Crete, which he says

are at least 130,000 years old.

Crete has been an island for
roughly 5 million years and

is 40 kilometers from its
closest neighbor, suggesting

a far more ambitious journey.

The big question is,
how did they get there?

That sort of distance
wouldn't necessarily require

boats to make the journey.

The Neanderthals might
have just swam across,

but that doesn't really
take into account the much

more distant island of Crete.

We can't be certain, but it
does seem that Neanderthals

did indeed start sailing to
the Mediterranean, and quite

possibly on a regular basis,
50,000 years before Homo sapiens

first conquered the seas.

The opposition to this argument
is that the tools on the island

have not been chemically dated,
so estimates of their age are

based entirely on their design.

When we take into account the
use of fiber technology that we

mentioned earlier in the video,
and the newly discovered 467,000

year old wooden structure in
Zambia that shows signs of

a great understanding of
carpentry, then I don't

think it's outlandish to
suggest that Neanderthals

made boats to sail the seas,
but without any archaeological

findings, it would be almost
impossible to know for sure.

Thanks for watching
today's video.

I hope this helped
shed some light on this

amazing species of human.

With the passing of time,
we are finding things out

about Neanderthals that we
previously thought impossible.

And on this channel I hope
to bring these discoveries

to your screens in an
entertaining and engaging way.

Don't forget to like,
comment, and subscribe.

See you in the next one.