Not the Stone Age but the Wooden Age?..."Neanderthals Were Also Skilled at Woodworking"

A study has revealed that Neanderthals who lived in northern Europe 300,000 years ago were skilled in woodworking, crafting throwing spears and sophisticated tools by carving wood.

On the 4th (local time), the American daily The New York Times (NYT) reported that a research team consisting of scientists from the Cultural Heritage Department of Lower Saxony, Germany, and the University of Reading in the UK released the first comprehensive report on wooden artifacts excavated from an open-pit coal mine near the city of Sch?ningen, Germany, between 1994 and 2008. This excavation site, also known as the 'Spear Horizon,' is famous for the large number of spears discovered there, believed to date back to the late Paleolithic period in the mid-1990s.

Estimated Appearance of Neanderthals

원본보기 아이콘

The spears found here are the oldest hunting tools discovered to date, made 300,000 years ago when Neanderthals began replacing Heidelberg Man in northern Europe. Since 2021, the research team has analyzed over 700 wooden artifacts from this site using 3D microscopy and micro-CT scanning techniques, finding signs of splitting, scraping, and wear on 187 pieces. Notably, some spears showed evidence of being resharpened after damage or dulling, and broken weapons were carved, refined, or repurposed for other uses.

According to the researchers' analysis, there were at least 10 spears and 7 throwing sticks, as well as 35 pointed or rounded artifacts that appeared to have holes drilled or softened leather, suggesting use in daily life. These spears were also found to be highly effective. Anthropologist Anemiker Milks from the University of Reading had throwing athletes throw wooden spears made identically to the artifacts, resulting in a 25% hit rate at about 15 meters and 17% at about 20 meters?double the minimum level required for hunting.

The research team stated, "Paleolithic people seem to have carefully processed wood in a specific sequence: stripping bark, removing branches, sharpening spear tips, and hardening them by fire to increase strength." Dirk Leder, the lead author of the report, explained the significance of these artifacts, saying, "Until now, it was believed that only modern humans split wood."

Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist from the Lower Saxony Cultural Heritage Department, said, "We can infer that wooden tools existed as long ago as stone tools," adding that if wood had been better preserved, the current era classification based on the development of stone tools might have been replaced by one based on wooden tools. This paper was published on the website of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on the 1st of last month.

Meanwhile, Neanderthals appeared in Europe 350,000 years ago, living in Europe and Western Asia, and are estimated to have lived until about 33,000 to 24,000 years ago. Until now, the prevailing theory was that Neanderthals should be considered a separate species from modern humans, Homo sapiens, but recent studies have shown that some populations carry Neanderthal genes. Neanderthals were adapted to cold climates, with large heads and noses, robust builds, and average heights of about 1.65 meters for males and 1.55 meters for females.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.